Officials of Animal Husbandry and Health departments stepped up surveillance in Kanniyakumari district against spread of avian influenza (bird flu) from Kerala on Tuesday.
Transport of poultry fowls to and from Kerala is under round-the-clock vigil at the inter-State checkpost at Kaliyakkavilai. Officials have instructed owners of poultry farms in the district to transport their birds to Kerala only after getting duly certified as free from bird flu. They have also been asked to take all preventive steps against the entry of bird flu into Tamil Nadu.
Tirunelveli
The district administration has taken all efforts to prevent outbreak of bird flu in the district following an outbreak of the disease in Alapuzha district of Kerala. Collector M. Karunakaran, who presided over a meeting of officials from Animal Husbandry and Forest Department, instructed the officials to be alert. A check post has been set up at Puliyarai along the border of Kerala to monitor and check transportation of poultry birds into Tirunelveli district. The authorities had been instructed to spray disinfectant on vehicles coming from Kerala to Tirunelveli. Efforts were also being taken to ban transportation of farm wastes and poultry feed from Kerala.
Only birds were vulnerable to (H-5 N-8) form of flu and it was not communicable to human beings. The Collector said a total of 575 poultry farms comprising 4,98,079 poultry birds and11,845 ducks were functioning in the district. The Forest Department officials had been instructed to closely monitor the birds in Koothankulam sanctuary to check for symptoms of bird flu.
