Residents of the twin cities have by and large ignored a government health advisory urging people to desist from purchasing sacrificial animals and consuming their meat on Eid in connection with Congo virus concerns, a senior Islamabad-based epidemiologist said on Sunday.It was expected that most would avoid buying sacrificial animals in the wake of the advisory. "However, contrary to expectations, a large number of people are buying sacrificial animals," Muhammad Durrani of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) said. "The educated have taken the advisory more seriously," he said.Jamiat-i-al-Quresh (butchers union) president Khurshid Ahmed said, "Most people are not afraid as they consider the advisory mere propaganda." Ahmed said it was nothing more than "a ploy of businesses wanting to promote anti-virus medicines in the market.""We have 30 slaughterhouses in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and not a single case of Congo virus has been detected or reported," Ahmed claimed. Some people approached him to seek advice before buying the animals. "I removed their apprehensions about the virus and suggested them to ignore the propaganda," he said.However, Nasir Mehmood Qureshi, the owner of a major frozen food outlet in Islamabad Kohsar market, has a different story to narrate. He said that the educated had taken the advisory rather seriously. "They are extremely cautious and have decided instead to donate money equal to the price of an animal to Edhi Foundation and Shaukat Khanum," he said.Maulana Muhammad Sharif Hazarvi , the administrator of a seminary in G-6/2 has advised people to partner with those who have their own animal slaughtering arrangements. "They can buy the animals on their behalf and hand out shares after slaughtering them," he said.