The government in Kerala has said the avian influenza which had hit the duck-rearing Central Kerala’s Kuttanad region has been brought under control, reports Indian Express. So far, it says, 180,000 ducks have been culled and the operation was scheduled to be wound up yesterday, 1 December, with the culling of another batch of 50,000 poultry.

Health Minister V.S. Shivakumar said the virus which was identified as H5N1 has not hit humans so far. Six samples were collected from people with symptoms of avian flu but all of them were negative. However, the government has equipped the hospitals in Alappuzha to face the situation if humans were found affected with H5N1. The health department has put under observation around 300,000 persons and visited 80,000 households in the affected areas, said the minister.

Although duck deaths have been reports from many part of Central Kerala, tests showed they were not due to avian influenza. The government has decided to extend financial assistance to those duck farmers who lost their birds even before avian influenza was confirmed.

Further Reading

You can visit the Avian Flu page by clicking here.