Italian poultry sales continued to plunge on Tuesday despite reassurances from the government and world organizations that the bird flu virus which killed several wild swans over the weekend has not spread to the country's chicken farms.
Italian Farmers Confederation (CIA) said results of an instant poll carried out across the country showed that eight out of ten consumers admitted they would not buy poultry.
CIA said the news that birds carrying a highly a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu virus had caused more panic and was dealing "a death blow" to the sector, which has already lost some 550 million euros since October.
The conferation urged the government to launch an advertising campaign providing consumers with facts and dispelling hearsay over bird flu. The government should also offer "concrete assistance" to farmers, especially small and free-range producers who are the worst-hit in the current crisis.
Civil Protection Chief Guido Bertolaso said the situation was only "dramatic" for the country's economy.
"This is a veterinary problem and will be restricted to that sector if we take preventive measures instead of spreading misleading information," said Bertolaso.
Meanwhile, environmental police impounded 80,000 chickens and 7,000 eggs in farms in two of the outhern
regions where six dead wild swans were found over the weekend.
Officials said the chicken farms in Calabria and Sicily were not penned in, a measure the government has enforced to avoid contact with wild fowl carrying the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.
