Butchers report chicken meat sales drop amid bird flu anxiety
While WA's last detection of bird flu was more than a month ago, butchers say they are experiencing a decline in chicken sales as the rest of the nation fights an outbreak.
A Perth butcher has noticed a significant decline in his typically steady chicken sales, attributing the drop to public concern over bird flu. In recent weeks, his Mt Hawthorn business has seen a 20 to 25 percent decrease in chicken sales. Similar trends have been reported by other butchers in the city, with one experiencing a 60 percent drop in sales over the past three weeks.
Western Australia's first confirmed case of the H5N1 bird flu strain was detected in a migratory seabird in June. Despite ongoing work with wildlife rescue organizations to detect and report potential cases, food safety experts have stated that cooked chicken and eggs are safe to consume. The WA Poultry Association president noted that on farms, the poultry industry has had to cull about 2 million chickens to control the spread of the H7 variant.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has warned of the high mortality rate in poultry, and the WA Poultry Association president urges the public to practice proper poultry biosecurity.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
