It is H5N1 but central team plays down fear

ALAPPUZHA/THRISSUR/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A two-member central team that visited bird flu-affected areas of Kuttanad on Wednesday said there was only a slight chance for human beings getting afflicted by the virus. The central team’s assessment came on a day when High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal, confirmed that the virus spreading the flu among the ducks was H5N1.
H5N1 avian influenza is a zoonotic disease--it can transmit from birds and animals to human beings. Dr D D Kulkarni, director, HSADL, told TOI that there has been no report of human casualties or disease due to H5N1 in India.
The central team, headed by C S Agarwal, additional director with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the district administration for controlling the outbreak. The team said the situation would come under complete control once the culling of birds was completed.
The culling of the flu-hit birds was yet to gain momentum with only 1,800 ducks put to death in Aymanam panchayat in Kottayam district and a few hundreds of them culled in Purakkadu and Swami Chira in Alappuzha district.
It was earlier estimated that 2.5 lakh ducks are hit by H5N1.
Meanwhile, the cabinet on Wednesday hiked compensation for poultry farmers as Rs 100 each for ducklings and Rs 200 each for ducks which will be culled. Earlier it was fixed at Rs 75 and Rs 150. Chief minister Oommen Chandy said the government has released Rs 2 crore to handle the situation.
The CM said the flu has been reported from only a few panchayats in the three districts and there was no reason to press the panic button.