Panel moots ban on sale, transportation of poultry in bird flu surveillance zones until March 2025
Minister says govt. will carefully consider practical implications of expert panel report and take necessary action
An expert panel appointed to study the bird flu outbreak in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts has submitted a report to the State government.
The team has recommended several immediate, short-term and long-term plans for disease control and to prevent future outbreaks.
Animal Husbandry Minister J. Chinchurani said the government would carefully consider the “practical implications” of the recommendations and take necessary action.
The expert committee recommended a ban on the sale and transportation of poultry (to and from) in surveillance zones in the bird flu-affected districts until the end of March 2025 (one migratory season). No new ducks or chickens should be restocked in districts affected by the disease until March 2025. Hatcheries in surveillance zones, including in government farms, should be closed until March 2025, the report suggested.
Regular sample collection
The panel further proposed sample collection every three months from all districts in the State to test for bird flu. In the Kuttanad region, samples should be collected every month and tested (until March 2025). The report called for gradually reducing the number of ducks in affected areas until the bird flu was brought under control. The panel suggested a cap of 3,000 to 5,000 ducks in a duck farm.
‘Change practice’
Considering the possibility of disease transmission from migratory birds, the committee recommended changing the practice of raising ducks in open fields and waterbodies in the Kuttanad region to raise them in enclosures and farms. Instead of releasing ducks into fields for breeding, the economic feasibility of raising them in enclosures and farms should be studied in detail, and if found profitable, measures should be taken to implement it, the report said. Further, the panel proposed that the number of ducks that could be accommodated in a panchayat area should be determined based on the land area of that local body.
The report suggested the establishment of a robust surveillance systems in the Kuttanad region and areas visited by migratory birds and the setting up of a BSL-3 laboratory. In collaboration with the Bombay Natural History Society and other NGOs, the routes of migratory birds and wild birds should be monitored, and samples collected from them. It also called for collaboration with national research agencies to conduct further studies on bird flu in the State.
Biosecurity audits
The panel called for strengthening surveillance and screening at check-posts. It should be made mandatory to report bird flu outbreaks in private farms immediately to the nearest veterinary hospital. Registration should be made mandatory for private chicken and duck farms. Every four months, the government should conduct strict biosecurity audits in government and private chicken farms, the report recommended.
On the latest outbreak, which began in April 2024, the panel said the virus might have transmitted to ducks in Kuttanad from migratory/wild birds. Further, the disease might have spread through the sale of infected birds and the movement of infected birds to other places. The report, however, noted that the birds being raised locally were the first to be affected by the disease. As such it was unlikely the disease was introduced from outside the State through the transportation of poultry. A detailed study of the genetic characteristics of the virus was necessary to understand the spread of the disease, the report said.
- Telegram
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