Cattle smuggling in Mekong region a growing health threat

Risk to bovine, human health as smugglers bypass vaccination and quarantine rules

- Kannikar Petchkaew and Gebu

CHIANG MAI - "Larb Ngua Dip", a local delicacy composed of raw beef drenched in blood jelly, lime, chilli and fresh herbs, is not for the faint-hearted but considered among its fans in rural southern Laos a fresh and tangy delight. The meal, however, caused 121 locals to develop black skin lesions and vomit uncontrollably in April 2024.

Infected beef used in the dish had caused the outbreak of anthrax, a disease that was largely contained through cattle vaccination in the Mekong region for the past two decades but resurfaced in recent years. Meanwhile, debilitating livestock illnesses like lumpy skin disease, which before October 2020 was not detected in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, have emerged, threatening more than 1.7 million cattle in the area.

Even more outbreaks could follow as cattle smuggling appears to be expanding in the region. While the practice itself is not new, it has become more lucrative in recent years because of the cross-border barriers erected by regional governments to control the Covid-19 pandemic and protect local livestock from disease.

Most of the cattle is destined for China and Vietnam. China is the world's second-largest beef consumer by total volume after the United States, with 10.6 million tonnes consumed in 2023. The Vietnamese, while consuming less than 10 per cent of China's total, ate an estimated 8.5 kg per person in 2022, double that of the Chinese.

Despite rising consumption, Vietnam's herds only meet less than half the country's domestic demand, while China's beef output has stagnated due to urbanisation, forage degradation and higher labour costs.