Ducks have started dying in scores at Aymanam and Aarpookara on the waterlogged, low-lying areas forming part of the Kuttanad wetlands even as the authorities are waiting for the results of the samples sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases.
J. Hariharan of the Veterinary Department said samples had been sent to Bhopal and it would take four days for the results. “If the results are positive, culling will commence after that,” he said.
He said deaths had been reported from two flocks of ducks reared by two groups. “We have received the report of death of at least 275 birds, 200 from one group and 75 from another,” he told The Hindu .
Sunil of Plappuzha House, Aymanam, said ducks from his flock of more than 4,000 birds had been showing symptoms of influenza for the past four days. “Nearly 500 have already died and many others are showing symptoms,” he said.
The farmer was a victim of the bird flu outbreak in 2014 and lost 2,525 birds. “I had bought the ducklings from another large farmer and was hoping to sell them for the Christmas market,” he said.
“I have not yet recovered from the loss in the 2014 outbreak, now the avian flu has struck again,” he said, even as he collected dead ducks from the Kelakkari Vavankal polder near Maniaparambu.
Meanwhile, the Bird Monitoring Centre at Thattekkad reported receiving information that ducks from Kottayam and Alappuzha were being moved in caged lorries to the kole wetlands of Thrissur, raising new challenges.
According to M.P. Sanjayan, Assistant Wildlife Warden, Thattekkad, they have not found any case of bird flu in natural birds during the ongoing survey.
Moreover, there were no duck or poultry farms in the vicinity of the kole wetlands, making it a safe haven for wild birds. However, if the present movement of ducks from affected areas was not stopped immediately, the wild birds in the kole lands could become susceptible to the disease and Thrissur district could also come under the threat, he said.
