Alappuzha: Following mass bird deaths in various parts of Alappuzha, the coastal district of Kerala, the Animal Husbandry Department has decided to cull nearly 60,000 birds across the district, one of the largest culling exercises in the recent times.
The department had sent the samples of the birds to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, for analysis, which tested positive for avian influenza (H5N1) two days ago.
Most of the cases have been reported in Cherthala Municipality, Pallipuram, Thannneermukham, Puliyoor region which has been now identified as the epicenter of avian influenza virus.
“It has been a massive culling exercise which had more than 50 employees of the animal husbandry department involved for the past two days. We are expecting that the exercise to be continued for the next two days”, said Dr Vyshakh, epidemiologist, Alappuzha animal husbandry department to TV9.
He added that nearly 60,000 birds will be culled in a whole so that the virus does not spread to the nearby regions and thus affect farms in the neighbouring regions.
The birds to be culled include chickens, ducks and quail. A meeting chaired by Alappuzha collector Alex Varghese decided to cull 13,000 birds at the bird-flue-hit Puliyoor campus of central hatchery, Chengannur.
An 18-member expert committee has been appointed by the state government to study the bird-flu outbreak will visit Pathanamthitta and Kottayam on June 25th and 26th. The panel will submit a detailed report in the next two weeks.
For a single chicken, the animal husbandry department pays Rs 100 for a farmer if the bird is below the age of two months and Rs 200 if the bird is above the age of two months.
The Rapid Response Team of the animal husbandry department will be culling the birds in the region.
As per experts, the birds in the region are being infected of H5N1 primarily from migratory birds.
Following mass bird deaths in various parts of Alappuzha, the coastal district of Kerala, the Animal Husbandry Department has decided to cull nearly 60,000 birds across the district, one of the largest culling exercises in the recent times. Kerala States News India: Top News India, States News, States News Headlines, Online State News India, State Politics news
