The Government of India said on Wednesday that, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has deployed multi-disciplinary teams to Avian influenza affected Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala, and Panchkula District, Haryana, to help with the execution of government containment plan.
According to an official release, the Department of Animal Husbandry on January 4 notified detection of Avian Influenza (H5N8) in samples of dead ducks from Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala.
Centre rushes a High Level team to #Kerala for supporting the State in public health interventions in #COVID19 management.https://t.co/4nlTjD0jLJ@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @PIB_India @mygovindia @COVIDNewsByMIB @CovidIndiaSeva
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) January 6, 2021
A parallel report of Avian Influenza has also been received from poultry samples from Panchkula District of Haryana, the release said.
“The two multi-disciplinary teams comprising of experts from National Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Virology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr RML Hospital, New Delhi and Lady Hardinge Medical College. New Delhi has been deployed to the affected districts by Health Ministry on January 4 to assist the State Health Departments in implementation government’s Avian Influenza containment plan,” the release further said.
Along with this, a high-level team including Director, NCDC and Joint Secretary & COVID-19 nodal officer, Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been deployed to Kerala today to oversee the implementation of Avian Influenza containment operations and guide State Health Departments in mounting appropriate public health interventions for the same.
In addition, this high-level team will also evaluate the COVID-19 situation in the State, the ministry said.
Health Ministry deploys multi-disciplinary teams to #AvianInfluenza affected districts in #Kerala and #Haryana.https://t.co/DpccZjjABM @PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @PIB_India @mygovindia @COVIDNewsByMIB @CovidIndiaSeva
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) January 6, 2021
However, the similar reports of avian influenza have also been reported from Jhalawar, Rajasthan and Bhind, Madhya Pradesh involving crows and migratory birds. Department of Animal Husbandry as per laid down protocol has issued alerts to further intensify surveillance to detect any case in poultry birds, the release said.
It further said so far, no human case of Avian Influenza has been reported. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare continues to keep a strict watch over the evolving scenario.