It’s safe to eat grasshoppers, says govt

There is no harm in the devouring wild grasshoppers currently being harvested from districts that last year grappled with the outbreak of Ebola virus, the Health ministry has said.

In an interview on November 24, Dr Allan Miruta Niyonzima the commissioner of Integrated Epidemiology Surveillance and Public Health Emergencies at the Ministry of Health, said unless people get into contact with droppings from fruit bats or a body of a person infected with the virus is poorly managed, there is no problem with eating grasshoppers currently being harvested from the districts of Bundibugyo, Kasanda, Mubende, Kyegegwa in Kabarole region where Ebola virus hit almost the same time last year.

“You do not need to stretch your mind because Ebola can only be spread through droppings of fruit bats getting into contact with human food or through body contact with an infected person,” Dr Niyonzima said on Thursday.

Dr Muruta’s comments follow Wednesday’s bumper harvest of edible grasshoppers from the districts of Kabarole, Mubende, Kasanda, Kyegegwa and others neighbouring the DR Congo.

Last September, Bundibudgyo, Kasanda, Mubende, and Kyegegwa were placed under a 69-day quarantine following an outbreak of Ebola viral disease.

Traditionally, the grasshoppers, a popular delicacy and great source of protein at the backend of a calendar year, are known to come from Masaka City.

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