Culling of chickens and ducks began on Tuesday in parts of Kerala to contain the spread of H5N8 strain of bird flu, while Jammu and Kashmir sounded an alert and started collecting samples from migratory species after Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh reported cases of avian influenza. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have stepped up surveillance and formed guidelines following the outbreak of the viral infection in neighbouring Kerala, where around 1,700 ducks have died due to the flu.
In Madhya Pradesh, officials said that 155 dead crows in Indore have been found with the H5N8 strain since the pathogen was first detected in the city a week back, while in Rajasthan, after Jhalwar, birds in Kota and Baran were found with the infection. However, no cases have been reported yet in Maharashtra, which shares borders with Madhya Pradesh. The Maharashtra government has issued an alert to all local officers from the animal husbandry department to report any unusual death of birds if found, and send samples to the Western Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (WRDDL) that has already conducted over 5,000 tests on birds in the last nine months, and found no strain of avian influenza. The National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, a nodal body for testing the disease, has also not issued any warning as of now, state officials clarified. The state government has also issued an advisory to those in the poultry business and consumers of non-vegetarian food not to panic unnecessarily.
Officials in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday surveyed the area around the Pong Dam Lake sanctuary in Kangra district to check the spread of the flu to domestic poultry birds, a day after samples of dead migratory birds there tested positive for H5N8. Till now, 2,700 migratory birds, mostly bar-headed geese, have been found dead in the lake area and samples have been sent for testing, state animal husbandry officials said.
The operation to cull birds in and around a 1-km radius of the affected areas in Alappuzha and Kottayam in Kerala was launched a day after results of samples tested at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal confirmed the outbreak of the bird flu in the two districts. Rapid response teams, set up by the administration, began culling ducks, hens, and other domestic birds as per guidelines, officials said.
Culling of birds in four panchayats of Nedumudi, Thakazhy, Pallippad, and Karuvatta in Kuttanad region, where the outbreak has been reported, is expected to be completed by Wednesday evening, Alappuzha district authorities said. In Karuvatta panchayat alone, around 12,000 birds will be culled, an official said. In the affected areas of Neendoor panchayat in Kottayam district, the rapid response teams have culled some 3,000 birds so far, authorities said. On a farm in Neendoor, around 1,700 ducks had died due to the viral infection.
Officials have said that around 40,000 domestic birds, including 34,000 in the Kuttanad region alone, will be culled to check the spread of the H5N8 virus. Though the situation has been brought under control, authorities have sounded a high alert in the districts, considering the potential of the virus to infect humans. The Alappuzha district office has banned the use and trade of meat, eggs, and waste of domestic birds, including ducks and chicken, in Kuttanad and Karthikappalli Taluks, officials said.
In Indore, the presence of bird flu was first detected on December 29, when about 50 crows were found dead on the Daly College campus of the Residency area, and tests run on two of the carcasses confirmed the presence of the pathogen. Madhya Pradesh veterinary department deputy director Pramod Sharma said that 155 crows were detected with the H5N8 virus in the Residency area in the last eight days. The deadly avian influenza has not been found in any other bird species apart from crows in Indore so far, he said.
“Samples from 120 live hens and roosters from the area and 30 migratory birds from Sirpur Lake have been sent to a laboratory in Bhopal to check for bird flu. The reports are awaited,” Sharma said. A survey is being carried out in the Residency area to check people with symptoms like cold, cough, and fever, a state health department official said but added that no case of the H5N8 infection has been found in humans.
Jammu and Kashmir sounded an alert and started collecting samples to check the health of winged guests flocking to the Union territory during winters, officials said as neighbouring Himachal Pradesh reported cases of bird flu. Joint teams of the animal husbandry and wildlife departments on Tuesday visited the Gharana wetland in the outskirts of Jammu and collected 25 bird droppings for testing to ascertain whether any of the birds are infected with the avian influenza, officials said.
Following the bird flu outbreak in neighbouring Kerala, the Tamil Nadu stepped up surveillance on inter-state borders and announced a contingency plan for the management of possible human cases.
“Avian influenza spreads rapidly and there could be a likelihood of humans getting affected. So, as a precaution, the directorate general of health services has evolved a contingency plan for the management of human cases,” Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan said.
Karnataka health minister Dr. K Sudhakar directed health officers in border districts of the state to remain vigilant in the view of avian flu outbreak in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. He also said that guidelines would be issued to all the districts to take necessary action.
In Himachal Pradesh, rapid response teams have started collecting samples of poultry from an area of 10-km radius from the periphery of the Pong Dam Lake, animal husbandry deputy director (epidemiology) Dr. Munish Batta said. “Our priority at this stage is to ensure that the infection does not spread from migratory birds to domestic poultry,” he added. In Himachal Pradesh, the H5N1 strain has caused death of 3,400 migratory birds at Pong Dam in a week. The officials said that there have been no reports of the virus infecting humans in the vicinity of Pong Dam. Kangra district administration on Tuesday has imposed strict restrictions in four sub-divisions adjoining the wetland.
Fortunately, there has so far been no report of any unusual sickness or death among the poultry in the area, Batta said. Officials in Rajasthan said that samples sent from Kota and Baran district have been found positive with avian influenza. State agriculture and animal husbandry department minister Lal Chand Katariaheld said that avian influenza has been found in three districts of the state, Jhalawar, Kota, and Baram. Till Tuesday morning, 625 birds have died in 16 districts of the state. Also, 86 samples from 11 districts have been sent for testing, officials said.
Close to 25,000 birds have died due to different variants of bird flu in states like Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh even as the Centre has issued alert to the states to monitor the health of birds in forest areas and near water bodies, officials from multiple states said. Forest department officials said that the source of bird flu was migratory birds which probably came from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and have spread to native species. In Kerala, about 20,000 ducks have died in past one week whereas in Himachal close to 3,400 migratory birds died in the past fortnight. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, there have been reports of crow deaths in several districts.
Rajasthan animal husbandry department secretary Arushi Malik said that avian influenza subtype H5N8 is not dangerous for people but precautions need to be taken as the disease can spread among birds. Microbiologist, Dr AK Kataria said that the virus strain H5N8 is not fatal for humans, and only H5N1 is known, which leads to pneumonia. The strains, which are considered to be highly pathogenic, are N1, N2, N5, N6 and N9. “The situation can be dealt opting required precautions such as burying dead birds three feet down and away from water sources,” he said. Like Rajasthan, in Madhya Pradesh, the bird flu virus H5N8 has spread to 10 districts and about 500 crows have died since December 23.
“There is no sign of other birds including poultry having been infected by any virus,” said director of MP animal husbandry department Dr RK Rokde. He added that bird flu found in poultry is H1N5. “We collected samples from poultry farms in the affected districts and we did not find any traces of bird flu. It is relief for us that the infection is limited to crows only,” said principal secretary, animal Husbandry JN Kansotia.
The districts in MP where crows were found dead include Indore, Mandsaur, Agar-Malwa, Khargone, Neemuch, Dewas, Ujjain, Shajapur, all in Malwa region; Sehore in central region and Guna in Gwalior-Chambal region of the state, according to officials. MP Integrated disease surveillance programme additional director Dr Shailesh Sakalle said that a household survey is being done in the affected areas.
