In the wake of the bird flu scare in Andhra Pradesh, the state government said it has announced a series of measures to contain the outbreak of Avian Influenza (bird flu) in West Godavari, East Godavari, Krishna and NTR districts, which led to the death of lakhs of poultry birds in the last three days.
In this regard, Director of animal husbandry department Dr T Damodar Naidu reviewed the situation in the morning and said a large number of deaths of poultry birds were reported from Velpuru village in Tanuku Mandal (West Godavari) and Kanuru Agraharam in Peravali Mandal (East Godavari) and several parts of Krishna and NTR districts in the last three days.
Talking about preventive measures, he said 721 Rapid Response Teams were set up to monitor and control the spread of bird flu, particularly at state borders, to regulate poultry transportation. He also stated that strict control measures were in place to prevent further escalation.
In the meantime, Andhra Pradesh minister K Athcannaidu 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 on Wednesday 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.
