Bird flu scare: Chicken sales drop 10% in B'lore

Demand for poultry products in Bangalore has been hit by the bird flu scare over the last two days though there has been no incidence of the virus in Karnataka.

The sales of broiler chicken has fallen by 10% and egg sales by as much as 30% in Bangalore. The city consumes 70,000 birds and 1.20 crore eggs per day.

Egg sales at the retail level are down by 20 lakh eggs per day, B R Sainath, zonal chairman of National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), said today.

The farm gate prices of live birds in Bangalore have fallen by Rs 3-5 per bird while egg rates have not seen any perceptible fall till today.

According to Nanda Kumar, chairman of Karnataka Hatcheries Association (KHA), there is no incidence of bird flu in the state. "We have been sending samples every day to the High Security Laboratory at Bhopal through the state department of animal husbandry. Till today, not a single case of bird flu has been identified in the state. There is absolutely no cause for worry among the consumers," he added.

The industry, in association with the state government, has taken enough precautionary measures over the last two years ever since the first outbreak of bird flu in the far eastern countries in January 2004, Kumar said.

"Our poultry farmers, about 4,500, across the state have been trained to ensure hygienic conditions in the farms. Consumers need not panic because all the necessary bio-security systems have been put in place," Kumar said.

According to him, the death of birds in Maharashtra could be due to the occurrance of the 'Ranikhet' disease. The symptoms of avian flu and Ranikhet disease are identical, and Ranikhet disease is quite common during the summer months, he said.

Meanwhile, the state government has imposed an immediate ban on the movement of birds from Maharashtra. Special checkposts have been set up at the border towns in Belgaum and Bijapur districts.