Kerala bird flu under control: Chandy

By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram

Authorities have distributed preventive medicines and protective gears to people handling the diseased birds as they started culling tens of of thousands of them in the affected areas spread areas in three central Kerala districts.

“We have held elaborate meetings of the villagers in all the three districts and there’s a high alert in the region. It’s limited to some villages and not spread widely,” Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said a meeting of his cabinet that reviewed the situation.

Officials are strictly following the protocol set by the World Health Organisation for containing bird flu. Transporting of ducks and chicken, including meat and eggs, within the districts and across the borders are banned.

A team of experts from the federal animal husbandry department that visited the region expressed satisfaction over the measures taken to contain the spread of the “highly pathogenic” H5 avian influenza virus.

“We have enough stock of medicines for up to 10 days and more medicines and protective gears are on the way from New Delhi,” the chief minister said, dismissing immediate possibility of transmitting the virus to humans.

Official estimates say 470,614 birds in these areas are susceptible and around 150,000 would be immediately culled.

All domestic birds in the affected areas will be slaughtered and burnt en masse, though there was no confirmed case of bird flu other than in ducks so far.

The “rapid action teams” that began culling in the badly hit Purakkad village of Alappuzha and Aymanam village in Kottayam, are expected to move into other villages in two days.

“There is no panic situation in the state. The government has taken all precautionary measures to check the spread of bird flu,” he said.

Health Minister V S Sivakumar said no human casualty from bird flu was reported anywhere in India in recent past. There was no confirmation yet that it was more harmful subtype H5N1.

“No virus affecting humans has been detected so far. But people should be cautious while handling fowls,” he said.

The government also increased the compensation for each bird culled from Rs150 to Rs200 and ducklings below two months to Rs100 from Rs75. The cabinet also allocated Rs20mn for immediate needs of culling and compensation.

Besides the affected districts of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta, transportation of poultry was banned in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Ernakulam districts.

Police are keeping a strict vigil on borders of the districts following reports of farmers moving ducks away from the affected areas. They reportedly avoid roads for waterways.

The neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states have also stopped transport of poultry at border checkpoints.

Prices of meat have also dropped by half in the state. Hotels reported customers shunning chicken and duck for beef and mutton.

Poultry dealers a reported a drop of 20% to 25% in sales as the prices crashed to the level of Rs50 to Rs60 for a kilogram of live broiler chicken.