India chicken sales slashed almost 50% by false virus rumour -Godrej Agrovet

Godrej Agrovet

27/02/2020 14:10

By Mayank Bhardwaj
    NEW DELHI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A false rumour that the
coronavirus can be spread by chickens has slashed Indian poultry
sales by almost 50%, top supplier Godrej Agrovet Ltd  GODE.NS 
said on Thursday.
    "A lot of misleading posts on social media, especially on
WhatsApp, have created a false impression that humans can
contract the coronavirus through chickens," Managing Director
B.S. Yadav told reporters.
    Sales have fallen to around 40 million birds a week from 75
million about four weeks ago, he said.
    Other Indian poultry firms including Venky's  VENK.NS  have
also cited rumours spread by social media for a fall in
poultry-related sales.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AI0ZV
    A knock-on fall in prices has hurt farmers as well, Yadav
said, noting farmers are now getting just 30-35 rupees
($0.42-$0.49) per bird, down from 80-85 rupees.
    Some farmers have already started to cut production, as they
can't afford animal feed and other costs of keeping a large
inventory of birds, Yadav said.
    For the first time, the number of reported new infections
around the world in the past 24 hours surpassed those in
mainland China, where the flu-like disease emerged two months
ago.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2AR0AY
    Scientists say the new coronavirus originated in bats and
then passed to humans, possibly via an intermediary animal
species.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2AP083
    Like other coronaviruses, the new virus - which causes a
disease called COVID-19 - is transmitted from person to person
via droplets when an infected person breathes out, coughs or
sneezes. It can also spread via contaminated surfaces such as
door handles or railings.
    "Even if people gradually realise that chicken consumption
has nothing to do with the coronavirus, sales will take a bit of
time to pick up as one can't raise chicken production
overnight," Yadav said.
    ($1 = 71.8700 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; editing by Jason Neely)
 ((mayank.bhardwaj@thomsonreuters.com; +91-11-4954 8030;
Twitter: @MayankBhardwaj9; Reuters Messaging:
mayank.bhardwaj.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))