Tens of thousands of poultry will be slaughtered in India after an outbreak of deadly avian influenza was found to have killed scores of birds across the country, officials said on Tuesday. At least six Indian states have stepped up efforts to contain two strains of bird flu – H5N1 and H5N8 – in recent days after the deaths of thousands of migratory birds, ducks, crows and chickens.
As health officials are busy dealing with a Bird Flu scare in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the news of it (avian flu) spreading in Kerala has also come. Reports now say that five out of eight samples tested in Kerala has tested positive for the bird flu virus. Kerala’s Minister of Forests, Wildlife Protection and Animal husbandry K Raju has confirmed the development saying that five of the eight samples have been confirmed for the virus. Meanwhile, in Rajasthan, authorities suspected the same avian flu is the reason for the death of thousands of crows, who were dropping dead on the ground. 100 crows were tested positive for the bird flu, forcing authorities to take necessary emergency measures to deal with the situation.
Many birds carry the flu without developing sickness and shed it in their droppings. Since birds excrete even while flying, they provide “a nice aerosol of influenza virus, shedding it all over the world”, in the words of American virology professor Vincent Racaniello. Generally, people coming in close contact with infected alive or dead birds have contracted the H5N1 bird flu, and it does not usually spread from person to person, as per the WHO. There is also no evidence, the WHO says, that the disease can be spread to people through properly prepared and cooked poultry food. The virus is sensitive to heat and dies in cooking temperatures.
India has witnessed bouts of devastating bird flu outbreaks in recent decades, most seriously in 2008, when millions of poultry were culled.
