KOZHIKODE: The scare of avian influenza in Malappuram district has been found to be unfounded as the sample of a dead migratory bird found from Tirunavaya was tested negative for the virus.
Malappuram health department sources told Deccan Chronicle that the sample was tested in the animal husbandry lab in Palakkad and that no cases of bird flu had been reported in Malappuram district so far.
“We are watching the situation and we analyse the data collected by the field staff every day. So far we have not got any suspicious cases from the district other than the one from Tirunavaya.
We are monitoring the bird sanctuaries at Maranchery, Ponnani, Tirunavaya and Kadalundi Nagaram,” Dr. V. Ummer Farook, district medical officer, said. The field staff are mapping these areas to find any suspicious bird deaths in the sanctuaries.
They health department has also requested for more personal protection equipment (PPE) for their field staff. “We have 100 PPEs with us. However, we have written to the district animal husbandry office for more PPEs,” Mr Ummer Farook added.
The animal husbandry department has also asked the poultry farm owners in the district to be vigilant and to report any cases of suspicious bird deaths to the department.
According to department sources, most of the poultry farms in the district are at isolated locations and do not have the possibility of contact with free-ranging birds.
The spread of the disease is unlikely in poultry farms. However, they do not dismiss the possibility of an outbreak in the bird sanctuaries that are located in thickly populated areas in the district.
