Bird flu outbreak: Tamil Nadu begins monitoring 26 checklists along Kerala border

After bird flu outbreaks  in Kerala and other parts of the country, Tamil Nadu has started monitoring 26 checkposts along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border in six districts including Kanyakumari, Tenkasi, Theni, Tiruppur, Coimbatore and the Nilgiris.

Outbreaks of bird flu have been reported in several parts of the country including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Hence, the state health department has initiated the monitoring of any human cases of the same. Bird flu — which is a form of highly infectious respiratory disease in birds caused due to H5N1 influenza virus — can also infect humans.

Health secretary J Radhakrishnan on Monday said that to stay on the preventive side, the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border is being monitored by the veterinary department and standard operating procedures will be started. The surveillance of all incoming and outgoing tradeable animals and meat between the two States is being done to prevent any transmission of such infections from Kerala to Tamil Nadu.

The contingency plan for the management of human cases by the Directorate General of Health Services is kept in place. Two districts — Kottayam and Alappuzha — have reported Bird Flu cases in Kerala.