A claim is circulating on social media along with the screenshot of an NDTV report stating, “Punjab government has notified the poultry farm as an infected area.” The text embedded in the image reads, “Black fungus spreading due to farm chickens. Please do not eat farm chickens for some days. Stay, safe.”
Here’s the link to the above post.
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FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim and found it to be misleading.
A simple keyword search led us to the actual NDTV report published on May 8, 2021. The report was on bird flu cases at a poultry farm in Ludhiana, Punjab. There is no mention of COVID-19 or Black Fungus in the article.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mucormycosis is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes.
Mucormycosis lives throughout the environment and mainly affects people with health problems or those who consume medicines that lower body’s immunity. People get mucormycosis by coming in contact with fungal spores, mostly through breathing in the spores.
As the infection started spreading among COVID-19 patients, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria held a press meet, listing important factors to prevent Black Fungus outbreak. However, neither Dr Guleria nor any other expert has said that the infection can spread from chickens to humans.
A Twitter thread on what is known so far by experts on causes of black fungus and how people can lower their chances of contracting it can be seen below. The thread was posted by Dr Pramesh CS, Director of Tata Memorial Hospital, and retweeted by Dr K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Indian government.
A clear and important thread on Mucor: What they are, how they cause infections, how to treat the infection, how to lower chances of infection, prevent infection, by controlling diabetes, steroid use. Finally, reduce possibilities of getting COVID: Masks, distance, ventilation! https://t.co/wVgEYaaBl7
— Principal Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India (@PrinSciAdvGoI) May 26, 2021
Hence, it is clear that the claim in circulation is misleading. There is no scientific evidence to prove that Black Fungus can spread from poultry to humans.
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