One week into the surveillance of wild birds, no instance of them falling prey to avian influenza has not been detected in the State.
The Bird Monitoring Cell, set up by the Kerala Forest Department at Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekad, did not find any dead or infected wild birds giving credence to the theory that migratory birds might not be responsible for the fresh outbreak. The team had surveyed 44 important bird areas in five districts.
No wild birds were found infected in any of the locations between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram, said R. Sugathan, ornithologist who is leading the cell.
Samples test positive
Meanwhile, the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, has tested 11 samples of domestic ducks positive for H5N8 strain of avian influenza. A report confirming the disease was issued by the institute to the Animal Husbandry Department on Saturday. The samples that were collected from Arppookkara in Kottayam, and Pallippad, Pandi, Anari, Karuvatta and Mampuzhakkara in Alappuzha were tested positive. Earlier, a few samples collected from Thalavadi and Ramankari too had tested positive.
Meanwhile, a joint commissioner from the Centre will reach the State on Tuesday to assess the situation. The official might visit the places where the outbreak had been confirmed, sources said. While probing into the causative factors, Dr. Sugathan suggested that factors such as water quality standards of the affected duck farms and also the possibility of some birds serving as intermediary host of the pathogen should be explored. The Cell was ill-equipped for such studies, he said.
There had been instances of transport of ducklings and pet birds from neighbouring States, where bird flu was reported recently. The possibility of the disease reaching here through the route also needed to be probed, he said.
5,000 birds observed
During the campaign undertaken by the cell, field staff of the Forest department covered 109 sq km of area and observed over 5,000 birds belonging to 180 species. The analysis of the data indicated that 90 species of both local as well as long-distance migrant species were present in the State.
