The government is seriously considering an expert panel report that has recommended a ban on poultry farming in Alappuzha until March 2025 as a containment measure against the spread of bird flu, Animal Husbandry Minister J. Chinchurani has said.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Union Animal Husbandry Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh in New Delhi on Monday, Ms. Chinchurani said restrictions on duck and chicken farming, among other poultry activities, were needed until the disease was brought under control. The Minister said the government had held discussions with poultry farmers on the matter.
Ms. Chinchurani informed the Union Minister of the need to vaccinate ducks and chickens in Kuttanad and surrounding areas against bird flu. Ms. Singh promised to look into the matter.
She requested the Centre to announce a livelihood package for duck and chicken farmers in Kuttanad and nearby areas. Ms. Chinchurani said setting up a BSL-3 laboratory at Palode in Thiruvananthapuram to test suspected bird flu samples had been taken up with the Union government.
She said the Centre was delaying the release of funds in connection with bird flu outbreaks in the State. The Minister urged the Centre to reimburse the amount spent by the State immediately.
An expert panel appointed to study the bird flu outbreak in Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Pathanamthitta districts had recommended banning the sale and transportation (to and from) of birds in surveillance zones in the bird flu-affected districts until the end of March 2025 (one migratory season) for disease control and to prevent future avian flu outbreaks.
It further suggested that 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 recommended.
The latest outbreak of avian flu, which began in April 2024, has caused the death of over 35,000 birds in three districts. Further, over, 1.70 lakh birds, mostly ducks and chickens, have been culled as part of containment measures. Though the latest outbreak has hit three districts, Alappuzha has been the worst affected.
The previous bird-flu outbreaks primarily impacted poultry such as ducks, chickens, and quail in the Kuttanad region. The present episode of avian flu (H5N1), however, also affected several species of free-flying birds notably outside the region. Crows, herons, kites, pigeons, and even peahen have tested positive, resulting in a wider spread and raising fear of the virus jumping to humans.
