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Chicken flu 'notice' in Sri Lanka

Charles Pathirana in Colombo, March 28 Monday 4.43 pm SLT.
An SMS phone text is being widely circulated against the purchasing or
consumption of chicken -- but supermarket retailers and others involved
in the poultry industry say it is scare tactic. The SMS says
''beware do not buy or eat chicken until June 2005. There is a
virus which has been spreading in poultry farms. No one seems to be
taking action. Wait for more than 45 days without eating chicken as the
new batches will be given the proper infections! Present shortage is
due to this reason! SMS everyone''. There was a chicken flu scare
last year during the Asian bird flu virus, and poultry farmers finally
had to make a pathetic appeal for chicken consumption to resume and
reach normal levels.

In the meanwhile, the virus scare is being taken seriously in some
quarters because there have been detections of bird flu in countries
such as Vietnam, and scientists have been saying that there is a
likelihood that the bird flu might jump the species barrier to infect
humans -- a phenomenon that, if it happens, has the potential of
triggering a global contagion.
Published: Mon Mar 28 06:05:38 EST 2005

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