Nepal-Chicken price, demand go down due to bird flu

Chicken price, demand go down.... The Nepal Army has issued a circular directing its troops not to purchase chicken meat.
	REPUBLICA KATHMANDU, Dec 2: Chicken prices took a beating in the capital after institutions like schools and security agencies stayed away from chicken products following bird flu alert. These institutions are major consumers of chicken in Kathmandu. The fall in price is in the range of 30 percent. Schools were the first to put a ban on chicken meat. Private boarding schools in Kathmandu valley have already stopped serving chicken items. These schools have also restricted their canteens from selling items made with chicken meat. The Nepal Army has issued a circular directing its troops not to purchase chicken meat. The Nepal Army usually includes mutton and chicken items in its menu. However, Ramindra Chhetri, spokesperson of the Nepal Army, refuted the claim saying the circular was on "preventive measures that army personnel should adopt to avoid getting infected by the disease". According to sources, Nepal Police has also alerted its personnel about bird flu virus even though it has not asked its staff to completely stop eating chicken meat. "Consumers fear to eat chicken meat despite the fact that bird flu viruses are killed if cooked properly," said Junga Bahadur BC, chairman of Chicken Retailers Association. "This fear has brought down the demand of chicken in the cold stores by around 60 percent." Following this, traders started slashing chicken prices, expecting the demand to rise. But this did not happen. Currently, chicken is available in the market at Rs 160 per kg, down by Rs 25. The latest strain of bird flu virus was detected in a slum along the Manahara river bank in Bhaktapur on Monday. To prevent the virus from spreading, all the poultry birds in the area were killed. However, consumers are still fearing that the disease may spread out. Following these developments, traders said they need to further bring down the prices to raise the demand for chicken.
Published on 2011-12-02 22:00:28 http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=39103