The Kerala government on Tuesday declared bird flu as a state disaster. The disease outbreak has been detected in two districts in central Kerala - Kottayam and Alappuzha. On Tuesday, officials started culling poultry birds in the region, to contain the disease spread which has already killed over 12,000 birds.
Animal Husbandry Director KM Dileep reacted to media persons on Tuesday, stating that the disease has been added to the list of state disasters, reports Mathrubhumi. Bird flu has also been reported in other states like Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, but Kerala is perhaps the first state to declare bird flu as a state disaster.
When a particular adversity is declared as a state calamity, it empowers the district Collectors to respond and intervene in the issue under the ambit of disaster management. According to officials, this will give more power to the Collectors. Getting funds from the State Disaster Response Fund will also be quicker.
Over 40,000 poultry birds in Alappuzha and Kottayam would be culled. On Tuesday, Collectors of both the districts deployed special health squads, including doctors to carry out the culling.
In Alappuzha, Nedumudi panchayat, Thakazhi panchayat, Pallippad panchayat and Karuvatta, are the regions where bird flu has been reported. Alappuzha Collector A Alexander has issued orders banning the use and sale of poultry eggs, meat and excreta of the birds (as fertiliser for agricultural purposes). In Kottayam, the avian influenza is reported in the 14th ward of Neendoor gram panchayat.
Watch video: Culling of ducks begins in affected areas of Alappuzha
In February, when Kerala reported three cases of COVID-19, the first in the country, the state had gone ahead naming COVID-19 as a state disaster. It was the first time a state in India was declaring a disease as a state calamity then.
Meanwhile, Kerala’s neighbouring states Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have declared caution on the situation. Tamil Nadu officials have reportedly deployed a health team in the inter-state border shared with Kerala, to monitor the movement of goods carriers.
According to the World Health Organisation, there is only a low chance for human beings to get infected by the H5N8 virus that is reported in Kerala. In a 2016 report, WHO had stated that ‘till date, no human cases of infection with influenza A(H5N8) have been detected”.