No need to panic over bird flu, measures to control disease in place: AP minister

Amaravati, PTI: Andhra Pradesh minister K Athcannaidu on Wednesday said there was no need to panic over the outbreak of Avian Influenza in the state as measures to control it are in place. The Animal Husbandry Minister warned against unnecessary rumour mongering, noting that some on social media are falsely pegging the number of dead chickens at 40 lakh.

Only 5.4 lakh birds have died in the recent past, out of a total of 10.7 crore chickens across the state, he said.“The state government has become alert immediately and mobilised the official machinery to kill and bury about 14,000 leftover chickens and 340 eggs in four affected poultry (farms),” Atchannaidu told reporters at Undavalli near the CM’s residence. If 40 lakh chickens had indeed died due to the viral disease then massive pits would have been required to bury them that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed and would be captured by some camera, he added.

A total of 721 Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are monitoring Avian Influenza (H5N1) in Andhra Pradesh following its recent outbreak in two villages in the Godavari region, officials said. The virus was first detected in Velpuru, West Godavari district and Kanuru Agraharam, East Godavari district prompting Animal Husbandry officials to begin culling birds at two poultry farms in the affected areas. Badampudi village in Eluru district reported the death of 2.2 lakh chickens, Velpuru in West Godavari district 2.5 lakh chickens, Kanuru Agraharam in East Godavari district 65,000 and Gampalagudem in NTR district 7,000 chickens.

The minister said all affected poultries were brought into a red zone and chicken shops within a radius of 10 km were shut. Amid reports of people avoiding eggs and chickens for some days, he assured that there was no need to worry, and added that the impact of the disease is waning.