THE SPREAD of the bird flu virus has scared Slovak consumers away from buying poultry meat.
"Consumers of our product have panicked, affecting not so much eggs but the consumption of poultry meat," said Ivan Gróf, director of a poultry farm near Nitra.
The consumption of poultry meat had fallen by 50 percent since the spread of bird flu began to be reported in October 2005. Later, consumption recovered to 70 to 75 percent of levels seen the previous year, but it now stands at about 40 percent.