NEW DELHI, Mar 8 (NNN-PTI) – Authorities in the southern Indian state of Kerala, on Saturday, sounded an alert, after it was found that bird-flu has hit poultry farms in one of the districts.
The bird flu virus was confirmed in poultry farms in Kozhikode district, about 400 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala.
“The influenza was found to have spread in a farm at Vengara and Kodiyathur,” an official at Kozhikode collectorate said. “Several birds have died in the farms but the flu has not so far affected humans.”
The local government’s animal husbandry department decided to cull more than 12,000 chickens following the outbreak.
“Apart from the farm chickens, the poultry flock and other domesticated birds near the farms, where the flu was confirmed, will also be identified and culled,” the official said.
Officials said, everyone who lives within a 10 km radius of the affected farms have been alerted and people have been asked to take precautionary measures.
The outbreak of the bird flu scare comes at a time when Kerala is already on alert in wake of the outbreak of COVID-19.
Kerala was the first state in India to report three cases of the COVID-19.
Health officials said, the patients were discharged from hospital after they showed sign of recovery.
