Between 2006 and 2007 there were 35,000 seizures of illegal meat at UK borders. However, due to lower numbers of Customs officials last year, seizures fell by 29%, raising fears that tropical diseases, such as ebola could be reaching our shores.

Tory minister for agriculture and rural affairs, Jim Paice, said “Why I find this so worrying an issue is that illegal meat does not just bring in animal disease, it brings in human diseases as well,” he said. “Bush meat from west Africa has the huge potential for tropical diseases such as the Ebola virus to come in, which could pose a serious public health issue.”

We usually associate the phrase ‘Meat is Murder’ with the killing of animals but meat is responsible for many other deaths and diseases - of people. Heart disease and cancer are the slow ways to go - if you’d rather something a a little quicker, keep your fingers crossed for a deadly dose of E.Coli, Listeria, bird flu, CJD, Salmonella or Campylobacter. Not only this, but the people who kill the animals for your plate have increased risk of death from all causes; death from injury, and lung, head and neck cancer. (ref 47) In fact, work in the meat inindustry (including fishing) is often quoted as one of the most dangerous in the world.