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Bird flu scare: Relief for poultry business as UP lifts ban on import
The order to lift the ban was issued after chief minister Yogi Adityanath approved a proposal to this effect on Monday, sources said.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday lifted the ban on import of poultry from other states following an advisory from the Central government to this effect. The move has come as a big relief to the poultry traders in the state.
The order to lift the ban was issued after chief minister Yogi Adityanath approved a proposal to this effect on Monday, sources said.
On January 10, the UP government had issued a circular declaring the whole state as a “controlled zone”, putting a ban on import of all kinds of live birds, including poultry, into UP from other states till January 24.
The ban was put in view of avian influenza (bird flu) cases being reported from neighbouring states, such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The government was supposed to review the ban after January 24 and take a call depending on the situation.
“We have withdrawn the earlier ban order midway with immediate effect on Centre’s advice,” principal secretary, animal husbandry, Bhuvnesh Kumar said.
The order also quoted a report by the director, animal diseases, to make a case for lifting the ban. According to that report, the department took 2,811 swab and 1,013 serum samples and also examined 43 dead birds during a statewide surveillance till January 15. “But only 11 (0.54 per cent) samples were found to be positive which is very low,” the order said.
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The Centre’s advisory, according to sources, said that not only there was no evidence of the avian influenza virus spreading from birds to human beings but the virus is also destroyed at 70 degree Celsius temperature and there was no risk from eating well-boiled eggs and meat.
“Moreover, while emphasising the need for lifting the ban, the Centre also said the virus in UP was mostly affecting wild birds and poultry birds were not hit, barring sporadic cases,” sources said.
The Centre saw the poultry import prohibition as a knee-jerk reaction to the situation.
Sources, however, added the ban was lifted mainly due to financial losses it was causing to people engaged in the poultry business in UP as well in states from where poultry birds are imported.
