Dr. Michael Parsa is a respected El Paso emergency medicine professor who teaches at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. In addition to his work in El Paso, Dr. Michael Parsa has practiced in locales such as Papua New Guinea. Having worked to develop medical capacities in underserved regions, he has a strong professional and personal interest in global health issues.

1. Michael Parsa, El Paso
Disease Risks Associated With
Bushmeat in West Africa

2. Introduction
 Dr. Michael Parsa is a respected El Paso emergency
medicine professor who teaches at the Paul L. Foster
School of Medicine at Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center. In addition to his work in El Paso,
Dr. Michael Parsa has practiced in locales such as
Papua New Guinea. Having worked to develop
medical capacities in underserved regions, he has a
strong professional and personal interest in global
health issues.
One major African health issue reported recently in
Mosaic Science involves the consumption of
bushmeat, which involves eating wild animals. While
the meat provides a vital source of protein, in
countries such as Ghana, it presents health risks and
the potential for disease to multiply and spread
beyond national borders.

3. Bushmeat
 As traditional areas of wildlife are depleted due to mining,
logging, and overhunting, those who supply Ghanian
markets with bushmeat such as antelope and grasscutters
(greater cane rats) are forced to encroach on natural
reserves and other previously undisturbed areas.
Unfortunately, this also puts them that much closer to
sources of new infectious diseases, as approximately 75
percent of new diseases affecting humans come from
animals.
A recent example of this crossover involves the Ebola
epidemic that impacted West Africa in 2013 and likely
originated from a small boy who played with a bat in a rural
area of Guinea. This single infection led to more than
11,000 deaths. Bushmeat purchased at the market can
also be problematic in cases where improper cooking
practices exist. Fortunately for Ghanians, soups and stews
are the most common dishes and involve hours of
simmering, which kills all but the most thermo-resistant
bacteria.