The Karnataka Poultry Farmers and Breeders’ Association has claimed that rumours about COVID-19 have hit the sale of poultry products.
Sanjiv Deshpande, member, told presspersons here on Sunday that some vested interests were harming the poultry sector by spreading rumours about the virus being spread by the consumption of chicken, and poultry products.
“We have done some fact-checks and found that all such messages are false and misleading. Poultry products are not even remotely connected to the spread of the virus, but we are being made the targets,” he said.
“There is a lot of fake news on social media connecting chickens and the virus. There is absolutely no connection between the two. But owing to such misleading messages, chicken consumption has gone down by nearly 50%. Nearly 80 lakh birds are produced every month in Belagavi, and Kolhapur areas. There are over 2,500 farms in the region which have been suffering losses for two months now,” he said.
“The prices of the birds have fallen by nearly half in the local markets,” he said.
“Poultry meat is safe for consumption. The Union government has released clarifications about this already,” said poultry expert Mahendra Choudhary.
He said that consumers were losing confidence owing to the rumours and misinformation on social media, and urged the mainstream media to help combat the menace of fake news.
Scientist Subramanyam Bhatt said the virus spread from humans to humans and not from animals or birds. “As per Indian cooking habits, chicken is completely boiled before consumption. This removes all chances of infection,” Dr. Bhat said.
Resource persons held a workshop in Belagavi on Sunday for poultry breeders to allay fears about COVID-19.