District Collector V Vigneshwari informed that bird flu was confirmed in the ducks reared in Ayyakari Padasekara in the first ward of Kottayam Paippad Panchayat. Avian flu was confirmed in ducks raised by one Joseph Mathew in Puthanpura. H5N1 was confirmed after a mass die-off of ducks at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases Lab in Bhopal.
18000 ducks were reared. They are five and a half months old. A radius of one kilometer from the confirmed spot of bird flu has been declared as a bird flu affected area. All domesticated birds within a kilometer radius of the area where the disease is detected will be euthanized and scientifically disposed of under the supervision of the Animal Welfare Department. Disinfection steps will be taken here.
