Effect of Ebola on Meat Consumption Patterns of Rural Dwellers of Tonkolili District - Northern Sierra Leone West Africa

This study was conducted to determine the effect of incidence of Ebola on meat consumption patterns among rural dwellers of Tonkolili District. Data was collected from 1, 600 respondents through well-structured and pre-tested questionnaire. This was randomly administered to selected respondents. Simple descriptive statistics involving mean, mode, percentages and Chi square was used and results presented in tables and charts. Result of the analysis showed that meat was not consumed on daily basis (0 %) but was minimally consumed on weekly (1 %) and monthly (4 %) basis by respondents in Tonkolili District during the Ebola saga. It was found out that there was preference for beef (33.44 %), mutton (3.75 %), chicken (25.25 %), pork, (2.5 %), goat meat (10.81), bush meat (21.69 %), and duck (2.56 %), respectively. Factors such as disposable income, household size, and restriction of movement, ban on hunting, psychology and religion were vital in determining the consumption patterns of meat. A negative perception was seen for the consumption of pork, showing less preference for pork as opposed to beef and bush meat. Furthermore, majority of the respondents with 7-9 (27 %) and above 9 dependants (30 %) were low income earners who earned meagre salaries above Le200000 and Le400000 respectively. Thus during the Ebola crisis, respondents had little access to meat protein which probably could have a negative effect on their immunity against the Ebola virus and other related pathogens