Broiler chickens are infected by a coronavirus.

The press release by China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs & the World Health Organisation's report disproves the statement.

The press release by China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs & the World Health Organisation's report disproves the statement.An image of the chickens posted on social media with a caption that coronavirus has been found in boiler chicken is widely circulated.

In parallel to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs press release has confirmed another virus strain of the H5N1 bird flu in Hunan province. Due to the H5N1 bird flu, outbreak 18,000 chickens were separated in Shaoyang city in the Southern province of Hunan.

World Health Organisation's data has shown the confirmed human cases for avian influenza A (H5N1) between 2003 to 2020 and killed 455 people worldwide.

Therefore it is concluded that 18,000 chickens were departed due to H5N1 avian flu, and were not related to coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV).

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.