February 13, 2025

Bird flu spread in Andhra Pradesh, India district causes worries of further spread, affects chicken meat sales

Reports of a spread of the H5N1 avian influenza in East Godavari district,  Andhra Pradesh, India, has sparked fears of a similar outbreak in Visakhapatnam district, with locals shunning meat shops for the past few days.

While no case of bird flu was reported in Anakapalli or Visakhapatnam districts, consumers have decided to avoid chicken until the outbreak of the virus is contained. This has resulted in a steep fall in prices of chicken at meat shops.

On January 28, the price of chicken was ₹270 (US$3.25) per kilogramme, which fell to ₹220 (US$2.65) per kg by February 6. On February 12, chicken was selling for ₹190 (US$2.29) to ₹200 (US$2.41) at most of the meat shops, while a handful were selling for ₹220 (US$2.65) in core city areas. Shopkeepers expect a further drop in prices if the situation persists.

"Consumption has fallen due to panic over the influenza outbreak for the past two to three days," said K. Naidu, a chicken shop owner in Nakkavanipalem. "We used to bring around 50 live birds, but now we are forced to bring only about 15 to 20, even though there is no suspected case of bird flu in our district." 

He added that he was selling a kilogramme of chicken for ₹210 (US$2.53), adding that the price dropped by over ₹50 (US$0.60) in the last few days.

- The Hindu