The Department of Animal Husbandry has issued guidelines to the people and directed its staff to be on alert after bird flu cases were reported from Kozhikode district in Kerala.
According to sources, the disease was confirmed among chicken in a farm in Kodiyathur grama panchayat, and at a private nursery in Vengeri within Kozhikode Corporation limits on Friday.
There had been suspicion about the disease since Thursday when samples of the dead birds were tested at the department's regional lab in Kannur. It was confirmed through the tests conducted at the National Institute of High Security Diseases, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Meetings involving higher officials were held at the State and district levels to take stock of the situation. Officials said that there is no cause for worry. Meanwhile, the Kodiyathur grama panchayat banned the functioning of chicken farms and chicken stalls, and the sale of birds and chicken dishes in hotels within its jurisdiction.
This is the second instance of bird flu in Kerala in the past five years as hundreds of ducks had been infected with the disease in the Kuttanad region of Alappuzha district.
