After Jharkhand government on Wednesday sounded an alert after multiple cases of bird flu, also called Avian flu, were reported in a state-run poultry farm in Hotwar, the sale of eggs has virtually stopped in many areas of Ranchi. 

“Nobody came to purchase eggs”, laments a retail egg shop owner echoing the sentiments of his colleagues in Deepatoli. Deepatoli is not the only area in Ranchi where the sale and purchase of eggs has been adversely affected by reports of bird flu cases in the capital city of Jharkhand. 

Reports claim that around 4000 birds, including chickens, were culled, and hundreds of eggs were also destroyed after the cases were confirmed at the Regional Poultry Farm in Hotwar in the state capital.

Deepatoli is located near Hotwar. The sale of chicken, birds, and eggs has been banned in a 1-kilometre area from the place of outbreak of the avian flu. 

The culling of remaining poultry at the Regional Poultry Farm will be conducted in the coming days and will be disposed of through scientific methods, an order detailing Standard Operating Procedures, issued by the government. 

Officials were spotted conducting a survey within a radius of 1 kilometre from the epicenter to find infections and proceed with culling. They have also been asked to make a map of the 10 km area and mark it as a surveillance zone. 

"There will be a complete ban on buying and selling until further orders. The district administration team is going door-to-door in the 1 km of the affected area and surveying the availability of birds/eggs, etc. 

The houses/shops/carts, etc., which have the above material, will cooperate with the survey team and ensure that they give information about the birds/eggs, etc., and hand them over for culling," the order stated.

The state Animal Husbandry Department has also urged people to inform it if they see dead birds. 

The Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying has asked the state to take all measures to contain its spread.