Tiruppur: With the novel corona virus reaching the shores of Tamilnadu and Kerala, there has been nervousness about how to deal with the virus and how it spreads. There has been no shortage of misinformation from many on the internet and sometimes information released by the government has been unscientific to say the least.
Tiruppur: With the novel corona virus reaching the shores of Tamilnadu and Kerala, there has been nervousness about how to deal with the virus and how it spreads. There has been no shortage of misinformation from many on the internet and sometimes information released by the government has been unscientific to say the least.
Rumours about the spread of corona virus through various agents has been floating around with unscientific information. And one of those rumours has been that the virus is spreading through non-vegetarian meat. The many vegan lobbies around the world don’t hesitate to spread such misinformation every time a pandemic hits humanity. They also ensure this information gets localised as per the region. In Tamilnadu, this rumour has now touched the broiler chicken with many unfounded claims that broiler chicken is the reason for the corona virus infection which is blatantly false.
To address this head on, the poultry industry had conducted press meets and released information debunking these myths. The poultry industry had informed the press that the sale of chicken has come down by 40% due to these baseless rumours. The central ministry for animal husbandry was quick to release official information that the virus is not spreading through meat. The poultry farmers though had requested that this information be spread by the state department to ensure that every one in Tamilnadu is aware of this rumour.
At the foundation event for the Tirupur Medical College, the State Animal Husbandry Department Minister Udumalai Radhakrishnan addressed the reporters, after the event, the Minister debunking the rumors about the COVID- 19 said, "The COVID-19 disease that has caused a lot of panic all over world, has been associated with eating chicken. However, it has been proved by the Department of Health that eating broiler chicken does not spread the novel corona virus. Any alternate idea that is spread, is a rumor and people are requested not to believe it."
He also detailed about the medical college coming up in Tiruppur saying that "The laying of the foundation stone for the medical college, will be done by the CM, who will preside the function on Feb 15th, 2020. The college will be constructed on an area of 14.80 acres at a cost of Rs.336 crores. Following the launch of special 'Amma ambulance' for animals, by the Animal Husbandry Department, vaccinations are now being provided door to door, for the foot and mouth disease, that infects cattle."
The District Collector and other MLA's were part of the event when the Minister requested everyone to not believe in the rumours that broiler chicken is causing the spread of the corona virus.