ALAPPUZHA: The Forest and Wildlife Department and ornithologists of the state have outright rejected the claims of Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) that migratory birds were behind the bird flu outbreak in Kuttanad.
Wildlife warden of Thattekad Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and Bird Monitoring Centre, which has been monitoring migratory bird movement in Central Kerala, dismissed the AHD claims, saying that examination of samples from Central Kerala region tested negative.
“It did not find any existence of bird flu virus in them. Experts from the centre collected samples till October 20, all of which tested negative,” he said, adding, “Following the outbreak in Kuttanad, samples were collected from the region and sent to District Veterinary Laboratory, Ernakulam, which then sent it to Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram. The results are awaited,” he said.
A team led by Joint Secretary of the AHD Ministry H K Muniyellappa, while visiting Alappuzha earlier this week, had expressed suspicions that migratory birds may be causing bird flu in ducks in Kuttanad.
Ornithologist and member of Kottayam Nature Society Harikumar Mannar also refuted the claims saying they were regularly monitoring migratory birds in Kuttanad and were yet to find a single carcass of any migratory bird.
“Moreover, no bird flu symptoms were found in ducks flocking with migratory birds. We spotted some ducks and migratory birds together at a paddy field in Aykkaramukku in Chennithala on Wednesday. But, no duck died. If it was infected by the virus, it would have been dead in 24 hours.
On the other hand, ducks in Kuttanad are dying after a week of showing bird flu symptoms,” he said. Alappauzha District Forest Officer V R Jayakrishnan said they were continuously collecting samples from Kuttanad with assistance from AHD officials, but were yet to find any connection between the flu outbreak and migratory birds. “No dead migratory bird was found anywhere in central Kerala in the last few months,” he added.