Don't Eat Half-Cooked Chicken, Half-Fried Eggs: Delhi's Bird Flu Advisory

The Delhi Health Department has today issued an advisory in view of bird flu cases in the city, asking people not to panic and follow a set of dos and don'ts, including not consuming half-cooked chicken, half-boiled or half-fried eggs.

Several ducks at Sanjay Lake and a large number of crows across various city parks have been found dead in the last one week.

The revenue department has deployed teams of volunteers at the city's borders to prevent unauthorised entry of livestock, and canned and processed chicken from outside.

The advisory issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of Delhi on Wednesday stated, "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, while issuing the dos and don'ts, has asked people to be cautious and not panic.

"Avoid contact and prevent exposure from sick-looking sluggish chicken. Avoid direct contact with bird secretions and droppings," the advisory states, adding that bowls used for feeding birds, and their cages should be washed properly with soap or detergent.

All slaughter waste must be disposed of properly, the DGHS authorities said.

The advisory also cautioned people to not touch dead birds with bare hands. If any bird is found dead, the control room should be informed at 23890318.

"Eat only completely cooked eggs and poultry products cooked at 70 degree Celsius for 30 minutes. Do not consume half-cooked chicken or bird or half-boiled and half-fried eggs," the advisory said.

The advisory cautions against keeping raw poultry meat near cooked meat and urges people to wash hands frequently at the time of handling raw poultry products. It also asked people to take due care of personal hygiene and maintain cleanliness in surrounding.

Reports of over 50 bird deaths were received on the helpline of Delhi government's animal husbandry unit, and 18 samples from different parts of the city were sent for avian flu testing on Tuesday, officials had said.

Testing of samples of crows and ducks confirmed bird flu cases in the national capital on Monday, prompting the Delhi government to impose a ban on sale of processed and packaged chicken from outside the city.

The Ghazipur poultry market has also been closed by authorities.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)