THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The health department is conducting a door-to-door survey-cum-awareness programme in the bird flu- affected areas in the three districts of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta.
The department has decided to keep the people residing within a radius of 10 km of each affected area under surveillance.
The health staff who were trained for the control and prevention of H1N1 are being pressed into service in the affected areas. Alappuzha and Kottayam medical colleges have been kept on standby to meet any emergency.
State nodal office for H1N1 Dr Amar Fettle said the health officials in the three districts had been asked to keep a close eye on the people coming with influenza- like symptoms.
When asked about the threat posed by bird flu, he said only those coming in close contact with the infected birds, bird fluids or meat might run the risk of getting the infection.
On the availability of medicines in the state, he said steps had been taken to stock sufficient quantity of oseltamivir, the drug used for treating the influenza-type fevers.
The health authorities are working in close coordination with the animal husbandry department to counter the threat, the first major one after the 2006 minor episode.
