What can be termed as a major relief for the poultry farms in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government has lifted ban on the entry of poultry products in the state. An order to lift the ban was passed by the UP-government’s Animal Husbandry department. The order went on to caution people, asking them to cook any meat at 70 degree Celsius as a safety precaution. The Uttar Pradesh government lifted the ban on import of poultry from other states following an advisory from the Central government to this effect.
According to the order released by the ministry, the restriction will only be imposed in a 10-km radius of an affected area.
“Avian influenza is a form of the disease found in wild birds and no evidence has been found of its strain H5N1 transmitting to humans in the past,” the order said. The order also mention the fact that more than 2,800 swabs and at least 1,014 serum samples along with the remains of 43 dead birds were collected from across the state and sent for testing.
On January 10, the UP government had issued a circular declaring the whole state as a “controlled zone”, putting a ban on import of all kinds of live birds, including poultry, into UP from other states till January 24.
The ban was put in view of bird flu cases being reported from neighbouring states, such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. “We have withdrawn the earlier ban order midway with immediate effect on Centre’s advice,” principal secretary, animal husbandry, Bhuvnesh Kumar said.