Delhi had sent 104 samples to Jalandhar to test for bird flu, results arrived on Wednesday. (File)
The Ghazipur poultry market and others that were closed in Delhi as a precautionary measure in view of an Avian Influenza outbreak will be reopened, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said.
The January 9 order, which also imposed restrictions on import of chicken from other states, was reversed hours after Delhi Animal Husbandry Unit confirmed that no bird flu, has been detected in the poultry samples sent from the city.
"It means there is no spread of avian influenza in poultry birds in Delhi," senior Animal Husbandry Unit officer Rakesh Singh said on Thursday morning.
Samples taken from poultry markets have tested negative with respect to Bird Flu.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 14, 2021
Have directed to open the poultry market & withdraw the orders to restrict trade & import of chicken stocks.
"Samples taken from poultry markets (in Delhi) have tested negative for bird flu. I have directed to open the poultry market and withdraw the orders to restrict trade and import of chicken stocks," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
While the order comes as a major relief for hundreds of poultry farmers who trade at the Ghazipur chicken wholesale market - Asia's largest - and Delhi's meat eaters, it is not clear if it applies to restauranteurs and hoteliers.
On Wednesday, three of Delhi's four civic bodies had banned the sale, processing and packaging of poultry or poultry meat "till the next order" in areas under their jurisdiction.
The BJP-governed agencies had warned hotels and restaurants against serving egg-based dishes or poultry meat and threatened with licence suspension if they fail to comply.
The order was issued despite a Delhi Health Department notification asking people to not panic and follow a set of dos and don'ts, including not eating half-cooked chicken and half-boiled or half-fried eggs.
Even Union Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh had tried to allay people's fears that consuming poultry could lead to transmission of the zoonotic disease - transferrable to humans from animals and birds.
"Cook eggs and chicken fully," he had tweeted while confirming "there has been no case of human transmission".
However, he had criticised the AAP-led Delhi government's precautionary step to close the Ghazipur mandi saying had the state followed Centre's advise such a need would not have arisen and there would be no "panic in a 500 km area".
Some 104 samples from Delhi were sent to a Jalandhar-based lab, and the test results arrived on Wednesday evening.
"Of these, 100 samples were collected from 35 poultry birds in the Ghazipur market. All samples have tested negative for bird flu," Animal Husbandry Unit officer Rakesh Singh said, adding that bird flu was suspected in the remaining four samples of Heron birds taken from a park.
They have been sent to Bhopal for confirmation, he said.
Bird flu has been confirmed in 10 states, including Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, prompting culling of birds, and the centre summoning state officials to examine the availability of animal vaccines in the country.
