The State government has undertaken control measures against avian influenza strictly under the Government of India (GoI) protocol, Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry K.P. Mohanan has said. It was decided to kill all birds in the one-kilometre radius of the site of duck casualty (epicentre) as per this protocol, he said. A Central expert team had reached the State to monitor the anti-virus drive in the affected areas.
Mr. Mohanan, accompanied by Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash, was addressing a meeting of officials, people’s representatives and farmers at the block panchayat office at Pulikeezhu near Thiruvalla on Thursday.
He said the avian influenza infection in certain ducks in Kuttanad had been confirmed in the tests conducted at the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal and the Southern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Bangalore. However, no human affliction has been reported from the State. There was no need for panic as effective disease-control measures had been adopted, he said.
Mr. Prakash said there would not be shortage of protection equipment and anti-viral drugs. A total of 650 masks had been despatched to the Animal Husbandry district office here. Mr. Prakash said the Kerala Water Authority had been directed to ensure uninterrupted drinking water supply to the disease-hit areas of Peringara panchayat. The Health Department would conduct medical camps in the panchayat.
Thiruvalla Revenue Divisional Officer A. Gopakumar would co-ordinate the functioning of departments and the local bodies in the disease-control drive in Upper Kuttanad. The RDO would review the work by various squads in the panchayat and report to the District Collector daily.
Collector S. Harikishore said a livestock survey carried out in the one-kilometre radius of Vengal Irukara, where duck deaths were reported on Tuesday, put the total bird population at 7,250 (ducks: 5,800, chicken: 1,250 and other birds, including love birds: 200).
He said Health Department teams had visited 430 houses in and around the affected area on Wednesday and 11 Rapid Response Teams (RRT) had been kept ready for culling. Mr. Harikishore said shortage of cullers was a problem and the panchayat authorities should provide cullers.
L. Anithakumari, Deputy District Medical Officer, said human to human contracting of avian influenza was very rare. Anti-viral drug would be supplied to pregnant women, children below two years, people above the age of 65 years etc.
Mathew T. Thomas, MLA, said four rooms had been arranged at the PWD Rest House in Thiruvalla to accommodate the RRT members who would have to be quarantined for five more days after the completion of culling.
