Bird flu scare: 48,000 birds will be culled in Kerala while Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on high alert

• 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.
• As a precautionary measure to stop the spread of the virus, as many as 48,000 birds will be culled in the state.
• The states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh too are on high alert as hundreds of crows dropped dead.

Bird flu scare has taken over the country as hundreds of birds across the states of Kerala, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh have dropped dead. And now, according to reports, Kerala has confirmed the return of the virus H5N8.

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. The virus is currently constrained within the areas of Alappuzha and Kottayam and no human transmission has been reported as of now.

As a precautionary measure to stop the spread of the virus, as many as 48,000 birds will be culled in the state. According to reports, over 12,000 ducks have died in the state already.

However, the bird flu scare hasn’t just taken over Kerala. The states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh too are on high alert as hundreds of crows dropped dead. Rajasthan Animal Husbandry Minister Lalchand Kataria had also called for an emergency meeting stating that the emergence of bird flu strains is a “serious matter”.

The central government had also issued an alert to all states.

The bird flu virus or Avian flu is known to be highly contagious and an outbreak had already been recorded in the states of Kerala and Karnataka earlier this year. Kerala has been struggling with the virus with repeated outbreaks since 2014, since which over 10 lakh ducks have been culled.