Bird flu panic grips Kerala's Kottayam

KOTTAYAM: Creating panic among the duck farmers in the district, the bird flu has reportedly spread to Upper Kuttanad region in western parts of Kottayam. According sources at the District Animal Husbandry Department, death of nearly 10 ducks have almost been confirmed, while thousands of ducks in Aymanam and Arppookkara panchayats have shown symptoms similar to bird flu, which has already reared its ugly head in Alappuzha district.

Earlier in 2014, thousands of ducks had died in Upper Kuttanad region owing to bird flu outbreak.
According to sources, the deaths were reported at Maniyaparamb bordering Aymanam and Arppookkara panchayats. “Thousands of ducks and ducklings have shown symptoms of the disease- drowsiness. Though, we have not officially confirmed deaths of birds owing to the flu, many of the farmers claimed that their ducks have died owing to the disease,” said an official in the Animal Husbandry Department, on condition of anonymity.

The officials said they collected the samples from the disease-affected areas and sent them to the Avian Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) of the Animal Husbandry Department in Tiruvalla. However, official confirmation  will be made only after the samples are tested at the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal or the Southern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Bengaluru. However, if the officials receive the primary report from ADDL, Tiruvalla, they would begin culling the infected ducks.
It is learnt that around 4,500 ducks owned by farmers Jomon and Chellappan in Arppookkara panchayat and 4,000 ducks of Sunil, a farmer in Aymanam panchayat, have been infected with the disease. Following the request of Sunil, Animal Husbandry officials visited his farm and collected samples.

Meanwhile, district veterinary officer Dr Hariharan has called upon the farmers to be vigilant in the wake of the confirmation of bird flu in Alappuzha district. The farmers have been asked to report at the nearest veterinary hospital, in the wake of mass deaths of ducks and symptoms like drowsiness, colour variation on body parts, fever and lethargy among ducks. The transportation of infected as well as healthy ducks inside and outside the district should be avoided.

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