CHENNAI: In the wake of the bird flu outbreak in Kerala, Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr T S Selvavinayagam instructed all district health officers to enhance surveillance measures across the state and monitor the travel of people in the affected area.
The DPH guidelines issued on Monday said that surveillance data should be entered into the Integrated Health Information Platform of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IHIP-IDSP) on a daily basis. The officials are asked to document and report all severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases and influenza-like illness (ILI) cases in all hospitals in the state.
Those who are closely associated with poultry including slaughterhouses should be monitored for bird flu infection. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities should be conducted on preventive measures such as hand washing, good hygienic practices and wearing masks, the DPH said. He also instructed the health officers to focus on the bordering districts and districts known for poultry farming. Public should avoid unprotected exposure to sick or dead animals and eating uncooked and undercooked food products. The guidelines were issued after a case of bird flu was reported in the Alappuzha district of Kerala on April 18.