An Indian man loads his bike with live chickens at Sir Stuart Hogg Market in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal on November 17, 2018.

India's poultry industry has lost 13 billion rupees ($182 million) in three weeks after speculation on social media that chickens are a cause of the spread of coronavirus, denting demand for chicken and nearly halving prices, say industry officials.

Millions of small poultry farmers have been hit by a sudden drop in sales.

Soybean and corn producers are also being affected with prices of both the commodities used in animal feed have falling up to 8% in the last three weeks.

While the disease has infected more than 70,000 people in China and killed at least 1,770 there, only three confirmed cases have been reported in India.

However, rumors that coronavirus can be transmitted through chickens have appeared on the WhatsApp message platform in India prompting the authorities to issue a statement last week that eating chicken is safe.

The western state of Maharashtra has called for the police to act against anyone spreading the rumours.

"Many people stopped eating chicken believing rumours spread on WhatsApp," said Uddhav Ahire, chairman of Anand Agro Group, a poultry company based in the western city of Nashik. "Chicken prices have crashed due to an abrupt drop in demand."