Kannur/Kozhikode: Transportation of poultry to Kannur district has been prohibited following the detection of avian influenza in the neighbouring district of Kozhikode.
“Transportation of chicken, duck and quail is prohibited until further notice,” District Collector TV Subhash said on Sunday.
A joint team of police, health, animal welfare departments will conduct inspection in the bordering areas of the district. Strict action will be taken against those who violate the order, district authorities informed.
1700 birds culled in Kozhikode
Over 1,700 domestic birds were culled on Sunday at Vengeri and Kodiyathoor villages of Kozhikode district in Kerala after avian influenza was reported at two poultry farms here. The birds were later burnt at a specially allocated site.
Chickens, ducks and other domestic birds were culled to prevent spreading of the virus to nearby areas. Droppings, feed and eggs of these birds were also burnt as an additional precaution.
The collection was made by action teams deployed by the government in different wards of the panchayats.
The culling will continue on Monday. District Collector Sambasiva Rao, Animal Welfare Department Director Dr MK Prasad led the task force.
Meanwhile, sale of meat has been completely banned in Vengeri, Kodiyathoor villages and Kozhikode corporation area.
After chickens started dying in the village few days ago, samples were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal, which confirmed the presence of avian influenza.
Following this, the health department sounded alert for a 10km area around the village.
District Collector Sreeram Sambasiva Rao chaired an urgent meeting of officials of the departments of animal husbandry, health and police on Saturday to take stock of the situation in the wake of the outbreak of the avian flu.
The state government has drawn up an action plan, including deployment of action teams each comprising five members including one from the animal husbandry and health departments.
He advised the public not to panic and said necessary measures were being taken to contain the spread.
"Swift action has been initiated to cull all chickens, ducks and other domestic birds in and around one kilometre radius of the two farms. This is only to prevent spreading of the virus to nearby areas.
Though the exact numbers are not available, it could run to few a hundred including all chicken in these two poultry farms," Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry Office, Thiruvananthapuram, M K Prasad said.
Avian influenza was last reported from Kerala in 2016. Thousands of ducks were culled in Alappuzha district then to control the spread of the disease.
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