Avian flu in Kerala likely to impact Tamil Nadu

The outbreak of Avian flu in three districts of Kerala and the State government’s decision to cull lakhs of poultry birds is likely to have an adverse impact on Tamil Nadu.

After the Bhopal-based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases confirmed that avian influenza, known as bird flu or avian flu, had caused the death of 17,000 ducks in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts, the Tamil Nadu government is likely to ban ducks and duck eggs from Kerala. Highly placed sources in the Tamil Nadu Health Department told The Hindu on Tuesday that heightened surveillance would be in place in Coimbatore from Wednesday as the district is a major transit point for the bulk of the trade.

Primary Health Centres and government hospitals along the border would be put on alert. These are precautionary measures as it is rare for the virus to spread from birds to humans, a health official here said.

The outbreak is expected to impact the poultry sector in Tamil Nadu. Kerala is almost self-sufficient in broiler production, and broiler sales from Tamil Nadu to that State has reduced. Tamil Nadu produces 75 lakh broiler birds a week and just 10 per cent of them are sold in Kerala.

With the confirmation of the outbreak of avian flu, consumption of broiler will come down in Kerala, and it will be felt by the poultry farmers here.

( Additional reporting

by M. Soundariya Preetha and S.P. Saravanan)