Kerala to cull poultry to check bird flu

CHIEF MINISTER CHANDY CALLS HIGH- LEVEL MEETING TO TAKE STOCK OF SITUATION

An outbreak of avian influenza, or bird flu, among poultry has raised serious health concerns in Kerala, and authorities are scrambling to take precautionary measures to prevent the disease from spreading to humans.

Rough estimates show that nearly 25,000 ducks have died of the disease, mainly in Kuttanad, an area known for its rice paddies.

The state government has decided to cull as many 150,000 birds including poultry in the three affected districts of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta. The decision was taken at a high- level meeting convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to formulate preventive measures to contain the spread of H5 Avian Influenza virus.

Briefing reporters on the action plan, Animal Husbandry Minister K. P. Hohanan and Health Minister V. S. Sivakumar said a rapid action team equipped with all necessary equipment including masks and preventive medicine kits would be sent to carry out the culling.

All sorts of birds, including pets, would be burnt to death by using kerosene. Government would provide a compensation for them at the rate of Rs75 for each chick of below two months growth and Rs150 for the birds of growth of above two months.

Since there are chances of human beings getting infected with the virus due to close contact, people in the area had been alerted to keep away from the places where the culling will take place.

Precautionary measures

As a precautionary measures, sale and transportation of eggs, meat and allied poultry products from around 10km of affected areas had been banned.

A three- member team from National Centre for Disease Control will be visiting the affected areas soon to make an assessment of the situation and advise the state authorities as part of the central protocol for tackling the situation.

Bird flu fears surfaced a week ago when Kuttanad in Alappuzha district witnessed large- scale death of ducks. Significantly, the bird sanctuary in Kumarakom, which attracts migratory birds from far and wide, is situated close by. Some experts have suggested that the disease may have been carried into the state by migratory waterfowls.