New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS): After the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the country's poultry industry, it is now reeling under the fresh threat of the bird flu infection. Due to the fear of bird flu, the sale of chicken and chicken products have been the worst-hit.

Especially in north India, the poultry industry has been badly affected by ban on the transportation of hens from one state to another. A delegation from the industry is scheduled to meet the central government on Sunday.

The cases of bird flu in poultry chickens have so far been found only in Haryana while most of them have been found in wild birds or migratory birds elsewhere and some cases have also been found in poultry ducks.

However, in the beginning of 2021, the fear of bird flu has increased so much that the demand for chickens and chicken products has decreased by more than 70 per cent, the poultry traders said. Poultry Federation of India President, Ramesh Khatri, told IANS that chicken sales had fallen by almost 70 to 80 per cent over the last three to four days, while prices had fallen by 50 per cent and egg prices had also come down by nearly 15 to 20 per cent.

Khatri said the primary reason for the falling demand for chicken is that the movement of poultry from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir has been halted from one state to another.

He said that the two farms in which the bird flu has been confirmed in Haryana are both layer farms and not broiler ones. In the layer farms, poultry farming is done for eggs, while in the broiler farms, poultry farming is done for chicken meat.

He said he would demand from the central government to save the poultry industry from rumour-mongering of bird flu.

A delegation from the poultry industry on Sunday would meet Union Minister Jitendra Singh in which Ramesh Khatri would also be present.

Poultry farm operator, Rakesh Manhas, also said he would urge the Central government that the rumours spread about bird flu causes humongous loss to the industry so measures should be taken to prevent such a situation.

The Union Animal Husbandry Ministry also said in the seven states where there were confirmed cases of bird flu on Saturday, only the reports of bird flu in poultry-chickens in Haryana has been confirmed.

In India since 2006, almost every year in winters, Avian Influenza, a common cold disease found in birds has been found somewhere or the other and the way to deal with the outbreak of this disease was made by the government in 2005, which has been implemented in the infection-affected areas.

Experts point out that the methods of eating chicken and eggs in India do not raise the question of transmitting bird flu in humans, although they say that the effort should be on not to eat infected birds.

Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Government of India, Praveen Malik, told IANS that there is no direct evidence of Avian Influenza (AI) virus being transmitted to humans by eating contaminated poultry products. He said that there is a need to maintain cleanliness and hygiene and the cooking and processing standards are also effective to prevent the spread of AI virus.

Agricultural economist and Poultry Federation of India advisor, Vijay Sardana, said the country's poultry industry is worth nearly Rs 1.25 lakh crore, which has drastically come down to half during the corona pandemic crisis. This means the business of the poultry industry which was nearly Rs 1.25 lakh crore before the disaster of coronavirus has reduced to nearly Rs 60,000 to 70,000 crore at present.

The recovery of the poultry industry came in the last few days of 2020, which was earlier ravaged by coronavirus, but is now reeling under the threat of bird flu.

Bird flu virus is heat-labile, gets killed at 'cooking temperature' 

Contrary to what some people think that the bird flu virus, also known as Avian influenza, is spread to humans via consumption of cooked poultry products, health experts on Sunday stressed that it usually does not infect people as the virus is heat-labile (degraded and killed when subjected to heat).

Avian influenza refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species.

According to the World Health organisation (WHO), cooking of poultry (e.g. chicken, ducks and geese) at or above 70 degree Celsius so that absolutely no meat remains raw and red, is a safe measure to kill the virus in areas with outbreaks in poultry.

Richa Sareen, consultant (pulmonology) at Fortis Vasant Kunj in New Delhi, said the virus is heat-labile and it gets killed with cooking temperatures.

"At this time, people should eat fully cooked chicken and eggs and not raw or partially cooked ones. One should avoid going to open markets that sell poultry as they are the focal point of the spread," Sareen told IANS.

"People who handle poultry should take special precautions. They should wear PPE, gloves and masks while handling birds and should practice frequent hand washing," she added.

Although the virus causing bird flu usually does not infect people, rare cases of human infection with these viruses have been reported, especially in individuals working with infected domestic birds.

"The possible cause of infections in humans is when they come in contact with birds with the viruses and enough viruses get into a person's eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled through the excretions of birds," said Kunal Kothari, Senior Physician, Internal Medicine, SMS Medical College in Jaipur.

"The spread of Bird Flu from one individual, who is sick to another has been very rare and data is limited, inefficient and not sustained but as a precaution, we should all be watchful of public health advisory," Kothari added.

Bird Flu is a communicable virus among the avian population and human to human spread is not too prominent with the current strain.

However, viruses are prone to mutation, so if this virus undergoes mutation in future, it has the potential to spread from human to human and cause a pandemic.

Bird flu mostly infects the respiratory system of humans. Common symptoms are fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough, muscle aches, etc.

"If severe, it can cause ARDS, multi-organ involvement and even death. The sporadic data on bird flu from the past shows very high mortality, to the tune of 60 per cent. Thus, it becomes important to take precautions now," Sareen mentioned.

Nevertheless, maintaining distance from birds in the environment is important as the spread of the avian virus is through the saliva, faecal matter of an infected bird.

"The avian virus is airborne. Notify the community health department on seeing sick or dead birds and try not to come in direct contact with these birds without proper masks, gloves and disinfectants," Kothari noted.

The Central government has issued a status report of avian influenza in the country, saying the disease has been confirmed in seven states.

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) has issued an advisory to the affected states so as to avoid further spread of disease.