Bird flu: Advisories issued to contain further spread, Centre deploys teams in Kerala, Haryana

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday said Avian Influenza, or the bird flu outbreak, has been reported at 12 epicentres in four states -- Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh -- and advisories have been issued to contain further spread of the infection in poultry ducks, crows and migratory birds. The Health Ministry has deployed multi-disciplinary teams to avian influenza affected Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala and Panchkula district in Haryana to help with the implementation of government containment plan.

According to an official release, the Department of Animal Husbandry on January 4 notified detection of avian influenza (H5N8) in samples of dead ducks from Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala. A similar report of Avian Influenza has also been received from poultry samples from Panchkula district of Haryana, it said.

"The two multi-disciplinary teams comprising of experts from National Centre for Disease Control, National Institute of Virology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, RML Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College has been deployed to the affected districts by Health Ministry on January 4 to assist the state health departments in implementation of government's avian influenza containment plan," the release said. Further, the Health Ministry said it has set up a "control room" in New Delhi to keep a watch on the situation and to take stock on a daily basis the preventive and control measures undertaken by the state authorities.

In India, the ministry said that the disease spreads mainly by migratory birds coming into India during winter months from September-October to February-March. The secondary spread by human handling (through fomites) cannot be ruled out.

"Infection in humans is not yet reported in India though the disease is zoonotic. There is no direct evidence that AI viruses can be transmitted to humans via the consumption of contaminated poultry products," it noted.

As per the action plan on Avian Influenza, the ministry has suggested the affected states for strengthening the biosecurity of poultry farms, disinfection of affected areas, proper disposal of dead birds/carcasses, timely collection and submission of samples for confirmation and further surveillance, intensification of surveillance plan as well as the general guidelines for prevention of disease spread from affected birds to poultry and human.