Hundreds of birds have been culled in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where the district has seen a rise in cases of avian influenza, or bird flu, local health officials told . Authorities have culled hundreds of ducks and other domestic fowl after an outbreak in broiler chickens in two villages in Kottayam district last week, district veterinarians said.
On Sunday, farmers were seen catching ducks in shallow ponds and handing them over to health workers to take them to a designated area for culling. “We have started culling various domestic birds in an area of one kilometer (0.62 miles) radius around the infected ponds,” Shaji Panikar, Kottayam’s veterinary chief, said on Monday. The spread of the virus worries governments and the poultry industry because of the devastation it can cause to flocks, the potential for trade restrictions and the risk of transmission to humans.
