TN strengthens border dists following bird flu outbreak in Kerala

CHENNAI: Following the outbreak of bird flu in Kerala, the State government on Friday strengthened the districts bordering Kerala such as Coimbatore, Tirupur, Theni and Kanniyakumari districts.

Sources in the State government said that in the last 2 years there was an outbreak of bird flu thrice and this time it was H5N1 variant which will not have any impact on the humans. However, the government has undertaken biosecurity measures for the vehicles entering Tamil Nadu from Kerala and in all the poultry farms in Palladam and Namakkal by spraying disinfectants.

There is an outbreak of bird flu in Kerala and the Tamil Nadu government has decided to cull more than 20,000 birds in the State. However, Tamil Nadu has no instances of bird flu and the state is safe, said sources.

"The government also keenly watches movement of migratory birds as the birds form the important reason for the spread of bird flu. However, the Kerala government has successfully contained the spread of bird flu and there is no threat to the poultry farms in the state. People can very well continue consuming chicken and eggs,” said the sources.

The sources also said that in India so far there is no history of humans getting affected from the bird flu but in foreign countries there were cases of spread of bird flu to humans who are in constant touch with the poultry materials.