<p>A day after the avian influenza (bird flu) outbreak in south-central districts of Kerala was traced to H5N1 virus, the state government intensified preventive measures and awareness drives in affected areas. <br /><br /></p>.<p>As the possibility of the virus spreading to humans looming large, special teams attached to the health ministry visited more than 14,000 households on inspection, Kerala’s health minister V S Sivakumar told reporters here after a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. <br /><br />“About 20,000 protective kits have been supplied to the culling teams. The state will also source an additional 30,000 preventive tablets by tomorrow,” Sivakumar said. <br /><br />Meanwhile, culling of ducks continued in the affected regions of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. The minister said 18,882 poultry birds – all within a 10-km radius from the affected areas – have been culled till Thursday. The government plans to complete the culling of birds over the next three days.<br /><br /> Three experts from the National Centre for Disease Control are in the affected districts to review progress of preventive measures. A total of 245 culling squads have been readied. In Alappuzha, 50 teams are already operating while Kottayam and Pathanamthitta have 15 and 10 teams respectively.<br /></p>
<p>A day after the avian influenza (bird flu) outbreak in south-central districts of Kerala was traced to H5N1 virus, the state government intensified preventive measures and awareness drives in affected areas. <br /><br /></p>.<p>As the possibility of the virus spreading to humans looming large, special teams attached to the health ministry visited more than 14,000 households on inspection, Kerala’s health minister V S Sivakumar told reporters here after a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. <br /><br />“About 20,000 protective kits have been supplied to the culling teams. The state will also source an additional 30,000 preventive tablets by tomorrow,” Sivakumar said. <br /><br />Meanwhile, culling of ducks continued in the affected regions of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. The minister said 18,882 poultry birds – all within a 10-km radius from the affected areas – have been culled till Thursday. The government plans to complete the culling of birds over the next three days.<br /><br /> Three experts from the National Centre for Disease Control are in the affected districts to review progress of preventive measures. A total of 245 culling squads have been readied. In Alappuzha, 50 teams are already operating while Kottayam and Pathanamthitta have 15 and 10 teams respectively.<br /></p>
