Avian influenza: TN Government orders officials to intensify checking across borders
According to the State Animal Husbandry, Dairying department, revenue officials and state police and veterinary officials were ordered to keep a close watch on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border as a precautionary measure.
Representative image (PTI)
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday ordered the Animal Husbandry department officials to intensify checking across the border districts of Kerala, following the outbreak of avian influenza (H5N1) in Kerala.
According to the State Animal Husbandry, Dairying department, revenue officials and state police and veterinary officials were ordered to keep a close watch on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border as a precautionary measure.
"Surveillance and preventive measures had been tightened. Vehicles carrying chicken, ducks, eggs and poultry feed from Kerala have been advised to be thoroughly inspected. 12 checkpoints have been set up for this purpose across the state including Coimbatore, Pollachi, Theni, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari," Mangat Ram Sharma, additional chief secretary to TN government told DT Next.
More than 2,000 ducks and chickens were perished in Kerala's Muttar and Ambalappuzha in recent days, followed avian flu outbreaks at Cheruthana and Edathua last week.
After the presence of the H5N1 subtype of the Influenza A virus was confirmed in ducks of three farmers at the two places, rapid response teams of the Kerala's Animal Husbandry department culled some 18,000 birds, mostly ducks, within one-km radius of bird flu hotspots on April 19.
Subsequently, a three-member team of experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reached Alappuzha to assess the situation following the outbreak of avian influenza (H5N1) at Cheruthana and Edathua in the district.
