Media hype hits poultry biz hard, says Pawar
Would the Gomantak Times agree? Remember how many headlines the SARS
created some time back? Maybe some journalists benefitted from this; but
SARS seems to have had less of an impact than, say, malaria. 
FN
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=118356
Economy
Media hype hits poultry biz hard, says Pawar
New Delhi, Feb 21 The media has exaggerated the extent of the outbreak,
contributing to a steep decline in poultry sales, agriculture minister
Sharad Pawar told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. “I am afraid that the
rural economy may be hit because of this coverage,” Mr Pawar said.
Chicken prices fell 42% on February 19 at the Ghazipur market in New Delhi,
the day after an outbreak was discovered in poultry in Maharashtra, said
Shashi Kapur, president, Poultry Federation of India.
According to the World Health Organisation, the virus in birds creates more
opportunity for human infection and increases the risk of it changing into a
pandemic form.
At least 92 of the 170 people known to have been infected with the H5N1
avian influenza virus have died, mainly in Asia. China, Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh and Pakistan had announced bans yesterday on poultry and poultry
product imports from India.
—Bloomberg
