Andhra Pradesh: Bird Flu Outbreak Triggers Alert

Death of about 2600 country chickens occurred on a farm in Siddapuram village of Bukkarayasamudram mandal a couple of days ago. However, the farmer suspected poisoning as the cause, after all the birds died in a short span. He made a complaint to officials including the local police.

The animal husbandry department sounded an alert over the incident and tried to ascertain facts. A team of veterinary experts from Vijayawada rushed to Anantapur and collected samples of the birds and confirmed that the death was due to bird flu. This triggered an alert among the residents and authorities.

Similarly, another poultry farm was hit by bird flu in Pamidi mandal on Saturday. A large number of country chicken died, causing substantial loss for the rearers.

The confirmation of bird flu even from country birds has prompted the district administration to step up surveillance and preventive measures to contain the spread of avian influenza. The veterinary, medical, panchayat and police officials visited the village and conducted an awareness programme on Sunday, urging the residents to remain vigilant and avoid unnecessary contact with the sick or dead birds.

Officials have advised villagers to keep poultry and other birds away from residential areas and immediately report any unusual deaths of chickens or other birds to the authorities. Notably, many crows and other flying birds were found dead in SK University premises last year due to the flu.

The present deaths raised concern among poultry rearers in the region, particularly those maintaining backyard poultry. Officials have appealed to people not to panic and said precautionary measures were being taken as per the prescribed protocols.

The latest outbreak comes months after bird flu cases were reported in parts of the state including Anantapur, Satya Sai , Annamayya and Chittoor districts. In these outbreaks, the authorities had intensified surveillance, collected samples and undertaken containment measures after laboratory confirmation of H5N1 avian influenza.

The state government subsequently declared several affected villages free from the disease after completion of the control measures.

Officials said teams would continue monitoring the situation in Siddapuram and its surrounding areas and take further action based on the findings of the surveillance and laboratory tests.

The awareness programme was attended by district-level teams from the medical, veterinary, panchayat and police departments, who urged the villagers to cooperate with the authorities in preventing further spread of the disease.