The Kerala government has declared Avian Influenza, known as bird flu, as a state calamity. High alert has been issued in Kottayam and Alappuzha districts where the disease outbreak has been reported. The district collectors have been directed to take the steps to contain the spread of the disease
Alert has been issued in other parts of the state also.
Bird flu was confirmed as samples of ducks died in different parts of the two districts were tested. It was confirmed that the disease had not been transmitted to human beings.
Special task forces have been formed to cull the ducks belonging to the flocks in which the disease was detected.
It is in four Kuttanad panchayats in Alappuzha (Thalavady, Edathua, Pallippad and Thazhakkara) and Neendoor in Kottayam that the Influenza A virus, H5N8, has been detected.
Ducks had died en masse in these areas and, following this, samples from these dead ducks were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal. The lethal virus strain was found in five of the eight samples sent, animal husbandry minister K Raju said on Monday.
It was among the 8,000 ducks in the possession of a poultry farmer in Kottayam that the virus was detected. The minister said all these ducks would be culled and said no other birds in the area were found to be infected.
Eight rapid action forces have been deployed in Neendoor to cull the ducks and other domestic birds.
According to experts, the H5N8 strain does not normally spread from birds to humans. It is lethal for the avian population but low risk for humans. Nonetheless, the Kerala government has been warned that a mutation could change things.
The Animal Husbandry minister said that steps would be quickly initiated to prevent the spread of the virus to other parts of Kerala. The Alappuzha and Kottayam district collectors have already issued warnings to poultry farmers and the general public.
The plan is to cull all birds found within a one kilometre radius of the reported outbreaks. Already 12,000 birds, mostly ducks, have died. It is estimated that over 36,000 more birds, including domesticated fowls, hens and turkeys, will have to culled to prevent the spread of the infection. Compensation will be provided for the loss of birds, but the extent of reparation has not yet been fixed.
Minister K Raju said there was nothing to worry as things were in control. Control rooms, manned by veterinary doctors, will be opened in all districts.
If it is ducks in Kerala, common crows are dying in large numbers in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh after being infected by the H5N8 strain. Samples from the carcasses of dead crows had confirmed the presence of H5N8 virus.
