A viral newspaper clipping which warns people about a virus being found in chicken meat in districts in western Odisha is being widely shared on social media.
What are users saying?: Users are warning people against consuming chicken meat, which the article purportedly published by 'Local Times' in Bhubhaneswar says can cause 'fatal' infections in people who eat it.
The claim is being widely shared on WhatsApp.
(Archives of more claims on social media can be seen here and here.)
But..?: The newspaper clipping is fabricated.
Odisha's Department of Health and Family Welfare has not issued any circular or notice in this regard, and there are no news reports to corroborate this information.
How did we find out?: We began by looking for the news organisation – 'Local Times' mentioned in the clipping.
A search on Google did not show us any news organisations with this name.
The website of the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), which has a record of newspapers in circulation, has three records for newspapers called 'Local Times' or 'The Local Times'.
None of these records show newspapers published in Odisha or in the English language.
Is there a chicken meat virus in Odisha?: Using a keyword search, we looked for news reports on such a virus, but did not come across any credible articles.
We then looked for any notices or circulars about a virus in poultry meat on the Odisha Department of Health and Family Welfare's website and social media, but did not find any relevant documents.
The state government's website also did not carry any relevant announcements.
The Quint has reached out to the state's Department of Health and Family Welfare and the Information and Public Relations department, and will update the article with their response when it is received.
Conclusion: A fabricated newspaper clipping is being shared with the false claim that a virus was found in chicken meat in several districts in western Odisha.
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