Bird Flu advisory: Steer clear of half-boiled eggs, undercooked chicken

In the wake of the bird flu scare resurfacing in the national capital, the Delhi Government on Monday released an advisory calling on the people in the city to take precautions when handling with poultry especially when it comes to consuming chicken meat and eggs.

Listing out a list of do's and don'ts for Delhiites, the advisory stated:

- Avoid direct contact with bird secretions.

- Clean all feeders, cage used for birds with detergent, dispose properly all the slaughtered waste.

- Please don't touch dead birds with bare hands and inform to the control room, Ph No. 23890318 for further action.

- Wash hands frequently at the time of dealing with raw poultry products. Take due care of personal hygiene, maintain cleanliness in surroundings.

 

- Always use mask and gloves at the time of dealing with raw chicken or chicken products

- Eat only completely cooked meat and meat products i.e at 100 degree Celsius

- In case any pond etc is near your mohalla, park etc and is not being disinfected with lime etc, then inform on the number 23890318.

- Do no consume uncooked chicken or eggs.

- Do not consume half cooked chicken/ birds or half boiled or half fried eggs.

- Prevent exposure from sick looking (sluggish) chicken.

- Do not keep raw meat near the cooked meat.

The advisory comes with the bird flu escalating in Delhi as on Sunday, 10 ducks were found dead at the Hauz Khas deer park, which brings the total number of avian deaths in the national capital due to H5N8, to 58.

Delhi Animal Husbandry Minister Gopal Rai confirmed that three crows, that were found dead earlier in the Sunder Nagar area, had also succumbed to the H5N8 avian influenza.

Meanwhile, three more painted storks died at the zoo in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, taking the number of birds suspected to have been killed to 18.

On Thursday, the Delhi government had taken 50 samples from birds in the zoo, various bird sanctuaries and poultry markets and sent them to labs for analysis. Both the Delhi zoo and the Deer Park will remain shut until normalcy returns.

The first deaths of two migratory birds were reported on 14 October in the Delhi Zoo, where six more birds were found dead the next day. One more bird each died on 17 and 19 October.