Bird flu scare: Poultry sales dip by 30% in Lucknow
LUCKNOW : The bird flu scare, following surfacing of the disease in some states, has gripped parts of the state capital with chicken meat and egg sellers complaining of drop in sales by about 30%.
LUCKNOW : The bird flu scare, following surfacing of the disease in some states, has gripped parts of the state capital with chicken meat and egg sellers complaining of drop in sales by about 30%. Bird flu cases have been reported in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh up till now.
Dilshad Qureshi, a chicken seller at Udaiganj, Lucknow said, “Sales have dropped considerably despite dip in rates. Chicken meat is now selling at Rs 140 per kg. It was Rs 180 to 200 per kg last week.” Manjeet Singh, wholesaler of eggs in Alambagh said, “Sale of eggs has also dropped by about 20%. In Lucknow, around 2.5 to 3 lakh eggs are sold daily but according to our reports the sale has dropped to just 2 lakh eggs daily.”
Government alert
Meanwhile, the animal husbandry department has divided Lucknow into nine blocks -Chinhat, Bakshi Ka Talab, Mal, Malihabad, Kakori, Sarojini Nagar, Mohanlalganj, Gosainganj and LMC areas -- to keep an eye on the health of birds being sold in the markets, said nodal officer of the department Dr Tej Singh Yadav.
He further said: “The animal husbandry department has written to the forest department to keep an eye on the birds in the forest area. These birds also can die due to bird flu.” The CMO, Lucknow has also been alerted for possible spread of bird flu and asked to store Tamiflu in abundance. Yadav said, “All inspectors of the animal husbandry department have started contacting chicken sellers to apprise them about the symptoms of bird flu in chickens. The bird starts dying after turning purple in case of bird flu. If the birds are turning purple after death or before death the vendors can call toll free number 18001805141.” Joint director, animal welfare, LMC Dr Arvind Kumar Rao, said, “We have started an awareness programme with bird sellers so that they can maintain cleanliness and keep their birds aware from any sort of infection.”