Officials of the Department of Animal Husbandry have been deployed at Puliyarai in Tenkasi district to stop vehicles ferrying chicken, ducks and eggs from Kerala.
Trucks that enter the district from Kerala through the Puliyarai checkpost are being disinfected round the clock. Vehicles transporting domestic birds or eggs are being sent back. The Department has deployed three teams, of five members each, to work three shifts.
Veterinarian Jayaraj, attached to the Department, said round-the-clock surveillance for 90 days had been put in place after chicken and ducks died in parts of Kottayam and Alappuzha districts of Kerala. “So we are sending back from today [Tuesday] all the vehicles coming from Kerala with chicken, ducks, broiler waste and eggs, while the other vehicles are being disinfected,” he said.
A similar system has been put in place at the checkpoint at Kaliyakkavilai in Kanniyakumari district.