A viral YouTube video claims that “Black Fungus came from Chicken and so avoid eating chicken to save yourself from Black Fungus”. This is false: Experts say that there is no scientific evidence for this.

A YouTube video claims that “black fungus comes from chicken, and it is dangerous for people who eat it. So please stop eating it and save yourself and your loved one’s lives”.

The claim in the video is false.

The archived version of the video can be seen here.

According to a research paper – “Fungal/Mycotic Diseases of Poultry-diagnosis, Treatment, and Control: A Review ” published in Sciencealert, chickens are less susceptible to mucor infection, i.e. black fungus. However, there are some infections like Mucor, Penicillium, and Aspergillus that can occur through contaminated litter. But there is no evidence that this infection will spread from chicken to humans.

To understand this further, First Check reached Dr. Swaroop Kanth, ENT Surgeon, Government Medical Hospital, Vijayawada, and Dr. Nagaraju Kumari, Associate Professor in Poultry Science at NTR Veterinary College Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh.

Terming the viral claim misleading, Dr. Swaroop Kanth said,” If this is true, then almost all chicken lovers may get this infection already, because mucormycosis/black fungus is present in the environment, and so, it may infect chickens as well. But, mucormycosis is not contagious. It cannot spread from contact between humans or animals. People get infected by inhaling spores of a fungus that was present in the air through their noses. However, this black fungus may trouble you if you have any drop in your immunity. “

The main reason black fungus is prevailing severely in this pandemic is the decrease in immunity levels in our bodies. As people are exposed to the coronavirus, which may decrease the immunity among the people, which is opening doors to these types of fungus to spread infection in your body, he further added.

Responding to this claim, Dr. Nagaraju Kumari said, “There is one fungal infection that occurs in hens during their chick stage, i.e. Brooder’s pneumonia (Aspergillus) and this because of temperature fluctuations in their body, but till now there were no instances of black fungus in hens. Most people eat boiled and cooked chicken, which makes their food safe even if there is an instance of bacteria or fungus.”

Even the Central Government Official fact-check body PIB (Press Information Bureau) Fact-Check highlighted that this is false and there is no scientific evidence for this claim.

Black fungus/ mucormycosis is not a newborn species like Coronavirus; it has already existed in the environment and affects our body when we lose immunity, and there is no scientific evidence chicken will spread this infection to humans.