THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/ALAPPUZHA: Even as authorities stepped up prevention and containment activities visiting more than 25,000 houses and screening 80,387 persons, Health Minister V S Sivakumar on Saturday said that bird flu was under control in the state.
He was talking to media persons after reviewing the situation at a high level meeting of officials from Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamathitta at the Alappuzha Colectorate.
The Rapid Response Forces (RRF) culled 70,431 ducks till November 28. While 61293 were culled in Alappuzha, about 6647 were incinerated in Kottayam.
RRFs in Pathanamthitta also culled 2491 ducks. The samples of veterinary surgeons who had shown symptoms of fever, were found to be negative after laboratory investigations.
As many as 30,000 Oseltamivir tablets have been brought to Alappuzha. The meeting also decided to purchase 3 lakh tablets to scale up preventive measures.
The minister said Rs 45,52,800 was distributed to duck farmers as compensation. The house to house screening was carried in all 14 districts with major focus on the most affected Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta.
In Alappuzha district, the health squad visited 6235 houses and screened 28868 people. Some persons with symptoms of mild fever were given preliminary treatment.
In Kottayam, 244 teams visited 14443 houses and screened 39,530 people. None was found to have any symptoms. Health squads covered 608 houses in Pathanamthitta and contacted 2318 persons. In these three districts 21286 houses were visited and 64,716 people screened.
In other districts the health squads covered 3866 houses and screened 15671 people.
Meanwhile, a high level meeting of officials will take place here on Sunday to review the bird flu prevention and containment facilities in the affected areas, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will preside over the meeting.
