Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Health Department on Tuesday declared the H5N8 Avian flu a state calamity and issued an alert while the affected districts of Kottayam and Alappuzha have been put on high alert.
According to the state instructions, the District Collectors are to coordinate all the preventive and precautionary measures in their respective districts.
The bird flu caused by the H5N8 strain of the Avian influenza virus was confirmed in Kerala, on Monday, after getting the test reports from the Bhopal laboratory. The H5N8 bird flu virus has been confirmed in the birds in Nedumudi, Thakazhi, Pallippadu and Karuvatta in Alappuzha district and in Neendoor in Kottayam district.
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State Minister for Forests and Animal Husbandry, K Raju, said that all measures to check the spread of the virus has been taken. "Though the H5N8 strain of the bird flu virus, which has been confirmed in Kerala now, does not usually infect human beings, we cannot say for sure that it won’t," said the Minister.
All the birds within one square kilometer of detecting the viral infection would be culled to prevent the spread to other areas.
A Rapid Response Team has been deployed for this purpose. About 48000 birds are estimated to be culled. Minister Raju said the State Government would duly compensate for the loss incurred by the poultry farmers and bird owners who are impacted because of the virus.
