Bird Flu: Animal husbandry secy says poultry is safe to consume, advises states to desist from banning

After confirmation of Bird Flu cases across 10 states, and reports of numerous birds dying of unknown causes in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, there is some relief on the Avian Influenza front.

According to Delhi’s Animal Husbandry Department, Bird Flu has not been detected in poultry from the city. All 100 samples collected from Delhi's Ghazipur Market, which is Asia’s largest chicken market, have tested negative for Bird Flu.

The results come a day after municipal bodies in the National Capital Region (NCR) banned sale of chicken and dishes made from poultry meat and eggs.

So far not a single case of human Avian Flu has been reported anywhere in India since this scare began.

Animal Husbandry Secretary Atul Chaturvedi said that Bird Flu has been a seasonal phenomenon since 2006. He also said that poultry or duck farms in Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have been affected.

However, he said that the outbreak in Kerala is now under control. He added that the spread of Bird Flu can be contained with the culling plan. Kerala has so far reported 20,000-plus deaths and 50,000 birds have been culled.

Chaturvedi has advised states to desist from imposing any ban on sale of chicken, eggs and meat as it is perfectly safe to consumer them.