Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`No such virus as Zulican'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JAN. 6 . There is no virus or bacteria named Zulican. Hence, the short messaging service (SMS) many people received on their mobile phones was a hoax.

"I have searched everywhere — on the Net, in the resources we have and with my colleagues. I have not come across a virus or bacteria by this name," says Balaji, a microbiologist, who is a consultant for a leading private hospital here. Fish was safe to consume, he said.

His friend, a consultant neurosurgeon, Daniel Rajesh Babu, wrote to fisheries organisations and research institutes seeking details of the virus. He also drew a blank. "The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology has said that there is no such virus." The institute searched all available sources such as the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta, he said.

`Rumours'

Fishermen's groups, which spoke to the press here on Wednesday, alleged that some interested groups were spreading rumours. "It is cruel to do such a thing at this time," said M.E. Raja of the All-India Meenavar Sangam.

He said all organisms in the sea could survive only at certain levels and at temperatures. Had the Bay thrown up all the organisms, which lay on the seabed following the tsunami, they would not have survived, he said. This was common knowledge.

Asked whether fish, which fed on corpses, were in the high-risk category (for spreading infections), Dr.Balaji said the normal metabolism would take care of anything a fish or any living being consumed.

The rumours had little impact in Kerala but a huge impact here, said Nanjil P. Ravi, a sangam activist. "The industry was forced to bury about Rs.150 crores worth of fish since the tsunami struck the coast," he said. Though fishermen from Tamil Nadu coast had not ventured into the sea since December 26 last, retailers and wholesalers sourced fish from Kerala and Goa.

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