BHUBANESWAR: Litchis vanished from the markets in
Odisha on Wednesday a day after the government ordered a laboratory test to ensure the fruit doesn't carry the deadly Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) virus after reports emerged linking litchis to the AES outbreak that has killed more than 100 children in
Bihar so far.
"Summer has gone and so are the litchis," said Ramesh Sahu, a vendor at
Kharavela Nagar in Bhubaneswar, trying to avoid queries on the disappearance of the fruit from the market.
Bhaskar Patra, a fruit seller in Unit-I market, said vendors have disposed of the fruit fearing presence of AES virus in it.
"Nobody knows whether the litchis were infected or not. We did not want to take any risk," Patra said.