Kerala On High Alert As Bird Flu Scare Escalates; 40 Thousand Birds To be Culled

The Kottayam district administration said that bird flu has been detected in a duck rearing center in Sleepur and about 1,500 ducks have died.

After Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the deadly avian flu virus was detected in about 1,500 dead ducks in parts of Kottayam and Alappuzha districts of Kerala, forcing the administration to order culling of ducks, chickens and other domestic birds within a kilometer radius in and around the affected areas. The Kottayam district administration said that bird flu has been detected in a duck rearing center in Sleepur and about 1,500 ducks have died there. Similar cases of bird flu have been reported in some farms of Kuttanad in Alappuzha district. According to sources, officials said about 40,000 birds would have to be slaughtered to prevent the spread of the H5N8 virus. Sources said that despite the situation being under control, the administration has issued a high alert in the districts as this virus has the ability to infect humans as well. State animal husbandry minister K Raju said that the government will compensate the farmers whose domestic birds would be killed due to bird flu. Meanwhile, Himchal Pradesh too reported the spread of avian flu as 1700 migratory birds were found dead near Pong Dam Lake. The administration came into action after examining the samples in Jalandhar and Palampur labs. As a precautionary measure, Kangra district administration has banned the supply of eggs and meat fish in four assembly constituencies along the Pong Dam lake. The development has come days after a large number of crows were found dead due to avian flu in the area around Radi in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar. Similar cases have also been reported in Indore forcing authorities to launch a drive to identify those with suspected flu symptoms in the area. Last time was in 2016 when Kerala reported drastic spread of bird flue in Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts. Over 2 lakh chicken and ducks had to be culled to control the outbreak. Avian flu or bird flu is caused by infection with avian flu Type A viruses which occur naturally among wild aquatic birds. The virus can also infect poultry and other bird and animal species.