Safe to eat chicken, egg: Talasani

Says no bird flu cases in Telangana; promises all support to poultry industry

Hyderabad: Don’t let the bird flu scare prevent you from enjoying your favourite chicken dish or keep you away from tossing up a good omelette! This was the message delivered loud and clear by Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav.

Assuring the people of the State that there were no bird flu cases in Telangana State, the Minister said the State government had taken all the measures to prevent entry of the disease. “Consumption of cooked chicken and egg does not spread bird flu,” he said reassuringly. He also promised all support to the poultry industry to prevent spread of the disease in the State and safeguard the industry.

The Minister, speaking at a high-level meeting with officials and representatives of poultry industry along with scientists and experts here on Tuesday, said consumption of chicken or eggs once cooked will not cause any harm and on the contrary, they provide high protein to people who consume it. Further, the Animal Husbandry Department along with Medical and Health Department were taking all measures to prevent spread of the disease in the State, following directions from Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao soon after reports of bird flu were received from neighbouring States.

“Around 1,300 Rapid Response Teams have been set up across the State. The departments of Animal Husbandry, Health and Forests are coordinating with each other at the State, district and field-levels in the State along with the Collectors of the border districts,” he said. He added that the impact of migratory birds in the State is very limited.

Srinivas Yadav said the State government had immediately responded to media reports about death of birds in Nalgonda, Warangal and Peddapalli districts. He said all the 276 samples collected and tested, were reported as negative. Similarly, 1,000 samples were tested in the last three days which yielded negative results. He said the State government would support the poultry industry in all possible ways by spreading awareness among the people on field level measures, sample collection and testing. “The poultry industry could recover speedily from the COVID-19 impact due to the proactive measures taken by the State government. We are prepared to take similar measures to allay fears about the Bird Flu,” he said.

Health Minister Eatala Rajender said that the poultry industry had a special identity in the State with third largest poultry industry in the country. He stated that the Bird Flu had severe impact on the poultry industry earlier, but no human was harmed due to consumption of chicken or eggs. “Boiled chicken and eggs will not cause any damage to human. Instead, they provide high value protein at low cost to our body,” he said.

Chevella MP G Ranjith Reddy, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Secretary Anitha Rajendra, Health Secretary SAM Rizvi, Family Welfare commissioner Vakati Karuna, Director of Public Health Srinivas Rao, Animal Husbandry director V Laxma Reddy and other senior officials, along with Poultry Breeders Association vice-president V Harshavardhan Reddy, general secretary G Ramesh Babu, NECC chief executive officer KG Anand and other representatives of poultry industry, attended the meeting.

 

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