After an outbreak of bird flu was confirmed at Haripad in Alappuzha district of Kerala, the district administration on Thursday, October 27 ordered culling of around 20,000 birds in the area. The flu was detected in dead ducks in Vazhuthanam Padinjare and Vazhuthanam Vadakke in Haripad, and the district collector VR Krishna Teja had said that the presence of H5N1 subtype of the Influenza A virus was found in the ducks.
According to reports, farmers have lost around 1,500 ducks to the flu in the past week, following which samples of the dead ducks were sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal. The test results came out positive for the bird influenza.
Speaking to TNM, Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department Bindu said that culling of two flocks of birds - around 20,000 ducks- has been ordered. “Eight rapid response teams have been constituted and we hope to begin the culling operations on Thursday morning," an official had told The Hindu. Further, the collector has also imposed a ban on moving birds from the hotspot area.
Earlier in December last year, the flu was detected in a flock of birds from Thakazhi panchayat in Kuttanad, which includes Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. Prior to that, in the month of July, there were bird flu cases reported in Kozhikode with 300 birds reportedly dying due to the flu.
According to medical experts, avian influenza (H5N1) or H5N8 is commonly called bird flu though many other strains are prevalent, and the infection spreads through droppings, saliva and secretions of birds. However, there is only a low chance for human beings to get infected by the H5N8 virus. In a 2016 report, the World Health Organization (WHO) had stated that “till date, no human cases of infection with influenza A(H5N8) have been detected”.