H5N1 virus: Residents avoid chicken and eggs

PATNA: City residents have started avoiding chicken and any poultry products following doctors’ advice after H5N1 virus claimed the lives of six peafowls in Patna zoo over the last fortnight.
Sunil Kumar of Bhootnath Road said he was conscious about chicken ever since he read about the alert on the outbreak of bird flu in newspapers. “I have not been eating either eggs or chicken from the day I came to know about it. I have also advised my family members to avoid chicken if they eat outside,” he said.

Priyanka Chaudhary of Kankarbagh is a diehard chicken lover but she has also stopped her cravings for the moment. “I generally eat chicken every alternate day, but I have stopped it for the past three-four days due to bird flu terror,” she said.

Rajeev Nagar resident Shweta Kumari has noticed very few customers at chicken shops in her area. “The bird flu alert is the hot topic of discussion in my neighbourhood. The chicken and egg shops have lesser people now as compared to a few weeks earlier,” Shweta said.

Restaurants in the city, however, claimed no fall in demand for chicken items. “People are still placing orders for their favourite chicken dishes,” said an employee of a posh restaurant in Bandar Bagicha area.

But chicken shops in several localities in the city wore a deserted look on Friday. Raj Kumar, who owns a chicken shop on Station Road, said, “There was 30 to 40% drop in sale of chicken and eggs on Friday. I used to sell around 110kg chicken daily, but today it was only 50kg.”

Patna civil surgeon Pramod Jha has already advised people to avoid chicken and eggs during the coming few days. “If someone is feeling nausea, cold and fever, he or she should immediately consult a doctor,” said Jha.