Since Wednesday last week, when the first case of bird flu was reported in the country, at least 10 states have confirmed the outbreak of avian influenza. But how serious is the new strain of bird flu virus, identified now as H5N8? According to former director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Professor Nirmal Kumar Ganguly, there is no immediate danger posed to humans through the consumption of bird meat — as long as it comes from a “non-infectious” farm.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi have so far reported the virus. Fear of contracting the virus, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, have caused the prices of broiler chicken to crash from around R82/kg to R58/kg in Maharashtra.