Rabies virus infection, coagulopathy, or larval cestode infection… are serious diseases that threaten those who frequently consume dog meat.
Potential Health Risks of Eating Dog Meat, Even When Cooked
Recently, several hospitals have received numerous emergency patients due to poisoning from dog meat consumption. The latest case involved a male patient admitted to the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion in a state of uncontrollable bleeding from multiple body parts.
The patient was diagnosed with coagulopathy without a known history of this condition. However, prior to his admission, he had consumed dog meat.
Doctors believe that the dog the patient consumed may have eaten a poisoned rat or was itself poisoned. The anticoagulants found in the poison are believed to be the indirect cause of the patient’s poisoning and uncontrollable bleeding.
In addition to illnesses arising from toxic bait ingestion, those who frequently eat dog meat may encounter other serious health issues.
Dog meat is a protein-rich food but has heating properties.
Larval Cestode Infection
Professor Dr. Nguyen Van De, former Head of the Parasitology Department at Hanoi Medical University, shared that he once treated a 42-year-old patient from Thanh Hoa who was hospitalized due to a massive lung tumor. Within this tumor were thousands of moving cestode heads. Test results confirmed it as a case of dog tapeworm.
According to medical literature, the transmission of dog tapeworms and Toxocara canis (dog roundworms) is extremely dangerous. They can cause blindness in the eyes, insanity when they press on the nerves in the brain, and produce numerous cysts in the liver, spleen, and lungs, weakening these organs and potentially leading to death from infection. Statistics indicate that various types of worms, including Toxocara Canis, Echinococcus Granulosus larvae, Spirometra mansoni larvae, Spirometra erinacei, and Dipylidium caninum, can be transmitted from dog meat to humans.
Cirrhosis and Kidney Failure
Dog meat is very high in protein but also has heating properties. This is evident as individuals consuming large amounts of dog meat may feel hotter, experience bloating, and have difficulties with digestion.
Due to its high protein content and heating properties, individuals who regularly consume dog meat over long periods may struggle to digest all the protein, leading to kidney and liver dysfunction, increasing the risk of liver diseases, kidney damage, and gout.
In Vietnam, there has been a case of a patient hospitalized for cirrhosis and kidney failure after being a “dog meat addict” for 15 years, consuming excessive amounts, which led to an accumulation of undigested protein and subsequent health issues.
People with cerebrovascular disease should avoid eating dog meat.
Risk of Rabies Virus Infection from Dog Meat
Due to the unknown origin and lack of inspection, dog meat poses health risks to consumers. Some doctors affirm they have encountered cases where individuals who were not bitten by rabid dogs still developed rabies and died. The reason being that the person consumed raw dog blood from a dog that had rabies.
Moreover, even those dogs that have been vaccinated and are not lethal can still pose health risks to frequent dog meat consumers. This is because rabies vaccines are administered annually. To reduce costs, the majority of current rabies vaccines for dogs are made from live attenuated rabies virus. As a result, vaccine residues in the dog meat (according to accumulation charts) in a 3-4 year old dog can gradually weaken and paralyze the central nervous system of the consumer over time.
Additionally, traditional Eastern medicine also asserts that dog meat has heating properties and strong nourishing effects. As a result, after consuming a large amount, older adults or those with hypertension are at risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to strokes or cerebral hemorrhages. Therefore, individuals with cerebrovascular diseases should refrain from eating dog meat.
Weakness and Neurological Paralysis
Dogs are vaccinated against rabies each year. To save costs, the majority of current rabies vaccines for dogs are made from live attenuated rabies virus. Hence, the accumulation of vaccine residues in dog meat over the years can cause consumers to gradually experience muscle weakness and central nervous system paralysis over time.
Increased Risk of Abdominal Pain
Dog meat has heating properties, and excessive consumption can lead to heat, indigestion, and bloating. Some individuals have experienced food poisoning after consuming dogs that were sick and dead on the street, with the carcasses being sold cheaply to dog meat restaurants.
In Vietnam, the law has not classified dogs as livestock for human consumption. (Photo: Freepik).
Gout and Preeclampsia Risks
Gout is a metabolic disorder related to diet, caused by excessively high levels of uric acid in the plasma, leading to the deposition of urate crystals (salts of uric acid) or uric acid crystals.
Normally, uric acid levels in men are around 420 micromol/liter and 360 micromol/liter in women. Levels exceeding this threshold are known as hyperuricemia.
Dog meat contains various essential nutritional components such as protein, lipids, vitamins, calcium, and iron, but it is very high in protein, easily causing gout due to increased uric acid in the blood.
Therefore, pregnant women who consume dog meat are at risk of preeclampsia, which can be fatal for both mother and child.
