Bird flu scare: Centre asks states to rethink ban on sale of poultry

With the fear of bird flu leading to a ban on selling poultry in certain places, the central government came out to ask the state governments to reconsider the ban and allow the sale of poultry products that were procured from non-infected areas.

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (FAHD) on Saturday (January 16) released a statement suggesting that it was safe for humans to consume well-cooked chicken and eggs. The ministry urged the people not to believe in unscientific statements and baseless rumours about the same.

"States have been requested to rethink their decisions to impose a ban on the sale of poultry and poultry products and allow the selling of poultry and poultry products sourced from the non-infected areas/states," the ministry said.

"It is reiterated that the consumption of well-cooked chicken and eggs is safe for humans. Consumers should not heed to baseless rumours that are unscientific and often lead to confusion," it added in its statement.

The government has made continuous efforts to generate awareness about Avian influenza among the public through both traditional and social media platforms. The affected states were also creating awareness through newspaper advertisements, releases, and social media posts on Facebook and Twitter.

Central teams were deployed to the affected areas of the country and they were monitoring the situation of bird flu and conducting epistemological studies.

In Maharashtra, the samples of dead hens from two villages in the Parbhani and Beed districts tested positive for Avian influenza. This led to a mass culling of around 2,000 birds in the region.

Culling means that the domestic poultry birds like chickens and ducks in the region were slaughtered to keep the spread of bird flu in check. As part of the culling process, all such birds in an area where bird flu cases have been found are slaughtered, following which their remains are buried.