Sale of chicken banned in parts of Delhi

The ban came shortly after the Health Department issued an advisory of do's and don'ts that should be followed so as to prevent oneself from bird flu.

The North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations on Wednesday banned the sale of chicken in their respective regions. The order issued has warned restaurants and hotels of selling poultry meat and serving egg- based dishes. The order of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) said, "All meat and poultry shops and meat processing units in areas under NDMC are prohibited (from) selling (or) storing poultry or processed, or packaged, chicken meat with immediate effect, till further orders." "All restaurant owners are directed not to serve poultry meat, poultry product or any egg-related dishes...or action will be taken against them," NDMC warned the restaurant owners.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) also issued a similar order that banned the import and sale of poultry products and warned all restaurants of serving any poultry product. "Whosoever defies the order, his/her trade licence will be suspended," the SDMC order said. Both orders came shortly after the Health Department issued an advisory of do's and don'ts asking people not to panic. "H5N8 is highly pathogenic in birds but the pathogenicity in humans, as well as the likelihood of human infection with avian influenza (AH5N8) virus, is low," the Health Department's notice said. It also said that "only completely cooked eggs" and " poultry products cooked at 70 degree Celsius for 30 minutes" can be consumed. As per the notification, food that should not be consumed includes half-cooked chicken or bird or half-boiled and half-fried eggs.

Last week several ducks at Delhi's Sanjay Lake and crows across various parks were found dead in the capital. After the positive test results, it was confirmed that bird flu has spread in Delhi as well. Other states that confirmed the outbreak are- Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand. The whole sale market of Ghazipur has also been shut down temporarily.