Telangana Health Minister Etala Rajender today said that there was no need for the people of the state to be concerned about the bird flu outbreak that has impacted several states in the country, as there had been no avian deaths reported in the state.
Rajender held a high level review meeting on the bird flu outbreak in the other states, and discussed strategies to prevent it from affecting Telangana.
"The state government is on high alert, and districts that share their borders with other states are being closely monitored. Bird flu has so far not caused any health implications for the people of the state. I would therefore urge the people not to panic, or believe in and spread any misinformation regarding the situation," he said.
"Rapid health action teams have been formed to check the spread of the flu, and mechanisms to remedy any such eventuality have already been put in place. I would once again request the people of the state to trust the government, and not to be unduly concerned by the situation," the minister added.
He also clarified that eating chicken and eggs was not harmful, and would not expose people to the avian disease.
Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, delegates from the poultry industry and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar were also present at the meeting.
The meeting was perhaps necessitated by the
sharp fall in demand for poultry products that was witnessed in the state capital recently, which can become a serious livelihood issue for the large number of poultry rearers and vendors in Telangana, who have been forced to slash the prices for their products drastically. The poultry sector is just about recovering from the losses it had incurred during the lockdown, and this current setback could potentially cause it much economic harm.