Media hype hits poultry biz hard, says Pawar

Would the Gomantak Times agree? Remember how many headlines the SARS created some time back? Maybe some journalists benefitted from this; but SARS seems to have had less of an impact than, say, malaria. :-) FN

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=118356

Economy

Media hype hits poultry biz hard, says Pawar

New Delhi, Feb 21 The media has exaggerated the extent of the outbreak, contributing to a steep decline in poultry sales, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. "I am afraid that the rural economy may be hit because of this coverage," Mr Pawar said.

Chicken prices fell 42% on February 19 at the Ghazipur market in New Delhi, the day after an outbreak was discovered in poultry in Maharashtra, said Shashi Kapur, president, Poultry Federation of India.

According to the World Health Organisation, the virus in birds creates more opportunity for human infection and increases the risk of it changing into a pandemic form.

At least 92 of the 170 people known to have been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus have died, mainly in Asia. China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan had announced bans yesterday on poultry and poultry product imports from India.

—Bloomberg