Kon Waii Son act: How drinking raw chicken blood can invite serious infections
The potential impact of raw chicken blood on your health and why doctors insist on consuming well-cooked poultry
by Sonali Acharjee · India TodayMusician Kon Waii Son’s act of slaughtering a chicken and drinking its blood on stage during a live performance has left many shocked. Drinking blood in India is illegal, but drinking raw blood is more than just an act of cruelty.
Here are the various potential impacts of raw chicken blood on your health and a perspective on why doctors insist on consuming well-cooked poultry:
Salmonella: Raw blood from chicken can contain a variety of bacteria. One of the most common is salmonella, a bacteria found in the intestines of chicken. Eating blood, even in tiny amounts, can cause infection. The symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach cramps, fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, headache and blood in stool. A strain of Salmonella bacteria, called Salmonella Typhi, causes typhoid fever in humans.
Campylobacter: This bacteria can get transmitted through infected animal faeces. The most common symptom is diarrhea with blood. If left untreated, or in severe cases, it can be life-threatening.
Clostridium perfringens: This bacteria can get transmitted through raw chicken blood. The bacteria will then make a toxin that causes diarrhoea. In some cases, the toxins can cause necrotizing enteritis, a life-threatening condition that affects the small intestine.
Bird flu: Also known as avian flu, this disease can be transmitted through contact with poultry blood. Some strains of this virus can be life-threatening to humans or lead to complications of the heart or lungs.
Brucellosis: Another bacteria that can be found in chicken blood. Infection symptoms include fever, joint pain, headache, loss of appetite, depression, and large and painful lymph nodes. Complications include inflammation of the heart, joints, spleen and liver, as well as central nervous system infections.
Aflatoxicosis: This disease is caused by toxins produced by fungi found in chicken feed such as corn, millet and sorghum. The infection in humans can cause liver enlargement, bruises and impaired immunity.
Zoonotic diseases: Certain infections like chicken anemia virus are currently prevalent in chickens but not humans. However, drinking chicken blood can cause an animal to human transmission. Many of the current viruses, including Covid-19, came into humans through animals.