Fresh bout of bird flu at Kuttanad

A recent bout of avian influenza flu (H5N8) has been detected at Kuttanad in Alappuzha.

According to officers, round 500 birds, largely hen, died at Kainakary lately. Samples of the lifeless birds despatched to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, for evaluation have been discovered to have been contaminated with the H5N8 subtype of the Influenza A virus.

A gathering chaired by District Collector A. Alexander reviewed the scenario on Wednesday. District Animal Husbandry Officer P.K. Santhosh Kumar mentioned a 10-member fast response workforce had begun culling birds and burning carcasses inside one km radius of the epicentre as per the Central authorities tips.

“Around 1,600 chickens and 700 ducks will be culled. The culling and sanitisation process is likely to be completed by Thursday,” Mr. Kumar mentioned.

Officials mentioned the outcome of samples collected from Muttar, the place bird deaths had been reported, was awaited. “Samples taken from the dead birds at Kainakary and Muttar were sent together. While samples from Kainakary tested positive for the virus, a communication from NIHSAD mentioned that the analysis of the samples from Muttar is under process,” mentioned an official with the Animal Husbandry Department.

Recently bird flu was detected from 5 locations at Kuttanad, Nedumudi, Thakazhi, Pallippad and Karuvatta in Alappuzha district and Neendoor in Kottayam district. Authorities had collected samples from eight locations following the mass loss of life of geese in December and despatched it to the NIHSAD for testing.

Five samples examined constructive for bird flu. Following this, fast response groups culled and burned the carcasses of 57,687 birds, largely geese, inside a one-km radius of the 5 hotspots within the two districts within the second week of January. The groups had destroyed 32,592 eggs and 5,078 kg of feed. Besides, 25,265 geese died as a result of outbreak.