Chikungunya cripples poultry sales in MP

First it was the bird flu that hit the sales of chickens and eggs. Now, it is the turn of the chikungunya disease that has further dwindled the sales of the poultry products, especially in the rural sectors of Indore.

The sales of chicken has witnessed a sudden fall followed by a widespread misconception that chikungunya is a kind of avian flu.

So hard-hit is the poultry sector in Indore by the latest turn of events that the poultry association of the city has asked the district administration to launch a massive campaign in the rural belts to dispel the many myths regarding the disease.

"Here the situation is as similar as in rural areas of Maharashtra, wherein the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) has already stepped in with a band of top actors from the Marathi film industry to dispel this myths," says Imran alias Major, the president of the City Chicken Traders Association and proprietor of the Major Chicken Centre.

He further added that he would be meeting the health minister to start a special campaign in the rural areas. When contacted, many of the poultry traders said that a campaign is needed to revive the sagging sales figures of the industry in the city outskirts, where they have outstanding sales during this season.

"Apart from assuming epidemic proportions and creating panic among the people, chikungunya has also led to several types of rumours - the worst hit being the poultry industry," said Ashis Verma, a schoolteacher in a village near Indore.

"Sir, when can we start eating the chicken again? My students had been asking such questions for the last two months; and with these questions, it could be judged that their families have stopped consuming chickens panicked by the disease," he further added.

A formal survey conducted in some of the rural areas of Indore district, like Khudel, Asrawadkhurd and Tillore, revealed that the disease had something to do with chicken.

Former village Sarpanch of Asrawadkhurd village, Sita Ram Chaudhary said, "People here don't know the root cause of the disease. They believe that chikungunya in someway related to chicken. So, once again they had started running away from the chickens."