ALAPPUZHA: The central team tasked to study the avian influenza outbreak and the impact of Covid-19 spread began its investigations in the district on Thursday. Public health specialist of the Union Ministry of Family Welfare Dr Ruchi Jain, National Virology Institute (Pune) scientist Shailesh Pawar and Dr Anith Jindal of RML Hospital, Delhi, are in the team.
They interacted with Collector A Alexander and other department heads. Alexander submitted a report about the Covid and bird flu situation before the team. He said the rapid response team has culled 43,206 ducks and destroyed 32,550 eggs. Animal Husbandry Department district officer P K Sunil Kumar spoke to the team about the culling activities and District Medical Officer L Anithakumari made a presentation about Covid prevention activities.After the preliminary meetings, the team visited the bird flu-affected Karuvatta, Nedumudi and other areas in the district.
They also examined the Covid observation activities of the health department in bird flu-affected areas and the surveillance plans of the animal husbandry department. The team sought a detailed report of the Covid trend in the district from September 2020.
Alappuzha Virology Institute head Dr A P Sugunan, health department district programme manager K Radhakrishnan and Disaster Management Authority deputy collector Asha C Abraham attend the meeting.