Musician Kon Waii Son’s act of slaughtering a chicken and drinking its blood on stage during a concert has shocked many people. Drinking blood in India is illegal, but drinking raw blood is more than just an act of cruelty.

Here are the different potential impacts of raw chicken blood on your health and a look at why doctors insist on eating well-cooked poultry:

Salmonella: Raw chicken blood may contain various bacteria. One of the most common is salmonella, a bacteria found in chicken intestines. Eating blood, even in small amounts, can cause infection. Symptoms include diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, headache, and blood in the stool. A strain of Salmonella bacteria, called Salmonella Typhi, causes typhoid fever in humans.

Campylobacteria: This bacteria can be transmitted through the feces of infected animals. 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 be transmitted through raw chicken blood. The bacteria will then produce a toxin which causes diarrhea. In some cases, the toxins can cause necrotizing enteritis, a potentially fatal disease that affects the small intestine.

Avian 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 or cause heart or lung complications.

Brucellosis: Another bacteria that can be found in chicken blood. Symptoms of infection include fever, joint pain, headache, loss of appetite, depression, and enlarged, painful lymph nodes. Complications include inflammation of the heart, joints, spleen and liver, as well as infections of the central nervous system.

Aflatoxicosis: This disease is caused by toxins produced by fungi found in chicken feeds such as corn, millet and sorghum. Infection in humans can cause liver enlargement, bruising and impaired immunity.

Zoonotic diseases: Some infections like chicken anemia virus are currently prevalent in chickens but not in humans. However, consumption of chicken blood can cause transmission from animals to humans. Many current viruses, including Covid-19, entered humans through animals.

Subscribe to India Today magazine