More duck deaths have been reported from Kuttanad in Alappuzha creating a sense of apprehension among farmers in the region.
According to Binnychan Xavier, a duck farmer at Attuvathala in Nedumudi, more than 3,000 of his ducks perished in the last six days.
It is the second reporting of mass death of ducks from the region in recent weeks. Joseph Cherian, a duck farmer from Purakkad lost more than 10,000 ducks in less than two weeks. However, the numbers have not yet been confirmed by the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD).
The cause of the deaths is yet to be ascertained even as an outbreak of avian influenza is suspected.
The AHD has sent samples of dead birds from Purakkad and Nedumudi to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD), Bhopal for analyses, but it is yet to receive the test results. The samples from Purakkad were the first to be despatched to NIHSAD more than a week ago after tests conducted at the Avian Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Thiruvalla and the State Institute for Animal Diseases remained inconclusive.
Delay in getting test results and identifying the cause of duck mortality has made duck farmers in the district a worried lot as they raise the birds with an eye on the Christmas festive season.
Earlier this year, bird flu caused by the H5N8 strain of the Influenza A virus was detected from six places in Kuttanad at Nedumudi, Thakazhi, Pallippad, Karuvatta, and Kainakary in Alappuzha district and Neendoor in Kottayam district.
More than 80,000 birds, mostly ducks, died or were culled in the two districts due to the outbreak. It was the third outbreak of avian influenza reported in the region in the last seven years. In 2014, thousands of ducks had perished or were culled following a highly infectious bird flu outbreak caused by H5N1 virus. In 2016, avian influenza caused by the H5N8 virus was detected among ducks in Kuttanad.
Besides, the region witnessed mass duck deaths in recent years due to bacterial infections.
