Khaleej Times

People shun chicken after false virus claims

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new delhi — India’s poultry industry is reeling after sales fell nearly 80 per cent over false claims that chickens were carriers of the new coronaviru­s and could pass it to humans, officials said on Friday.

Messages warning people to stop eating chicken because of the contagion have been widely shared on social media, including Facebook and WhatsApp, in recent weeks.

While Indian authoritie­s have repeatedly said there was no scientific evidence showing chickens could carry or transmit COVID-19, many Indians and restaurant­s have stopped buying the meat.

“People are not eating poultry at home. They are not going out to eat,” Gulrez Alam, secretary of the All India Poultry Breeders Associatio­n, said.

“Sales are down by 80 per cent (since January). There is no demand.”

India has reported 31 cases of the virus that has killed more than 3,300 people and infected nearly 100,000 worldwide after it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

Alam said small and mediumsize­d farmers have been hardest hit as the $14-billion industry struggles to correct the misinforma­tion online.

AFP’s FactCheck service debunked one of the claims — shared thousands of times on different platforms — that said coronaviru­s has been discovered in broiler chickens in Mumbai.

The post used photos that reverse image searches showed were taken from earlier online reports about other diseases that affect chickens, AFP FactCheck discovered.

Nearly $1 billion in sales of birds and meat have been lost, Alam said citing initial industry estimates, and there are fears the situation could worsen.

The production cost per bird is about $1.90, but millions of farmers are fetching 14 cents in the wholesale market.

“Even hotels we usually supplied meat to have stopped ordering in bulk as there is no demand,”

said Ramzan Khan, a chicken retailer in Mumbai, who is considerin­g shutting his business temporaril­y.

“We would sell 250 to 300 chickens every day but now it has trickled down to 50 or on a very good day 100,” Khan said.

Delhi butcher shop owner Arvind Das said his takings were down as much as 75 per cent.

“People misuse social media a lot these days,” Das said. “Those who are sensible, they are still eating meat, but those who are afraid are avoiding it.” —

 ?? PTI ?? VIRUS CHECK: Medical officials check tourists at Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, Rajasthan, on Friday. —
PTI VIRUS CHECK: Medical officials check tourists at Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, Rajasthan, on Friday. —

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