A four-member team of experts from Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati, on Friday inspected bird-flu affected poultry farms at Badampudi, Velpur and Kanuru Agraharam located in erstwhile twin districts of Godavari and Krishna.
Vijayawada:A four-member team of experts from Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati, on Friday inspected bird-flu affected poultry farms at Badampudi, Velpur and Kanuru Agraharam located in erstwhile twin districts of Godavari and Krishna. They interacted with farmers to learn why H5N1 virus broke out and guide farmers on how they can deal with the virus.
The team comprised professor (Veterinary Pathology) N. Sailaja, assistant professor (Veterinary Medicine) K. Rajesh, assistant professor (Poultry Science) E. Tirupati Reddy, and assistant professor (Veterinary Microbiology) T. Nagendra Reddy.
In particular, the team inquired how the poultry litter is being disposed of. They suggested that the litter be dried first, before burying it in deep pits with lime. This will check the spread of virus to other places. They wanted culling of infected birds completed quickly before they too are buried taking all precautions.
While trying to find out how the virus could have spread, the experts advised farmers to regularly vaccinate their birds and disinfect farms to avoid attacks by virus.
Two other teams of experts drawn from NTR College of Veterinary Science from Gannavaram in Krishna district and College of Veterinary Science at Garividi in Vizianagaram district have also started conducting inspections.
In the interim, state government is worried about the misinformation campaign in a section of social media, asking people to abstain from eating chicken and eggs for some days. The government feels this will cause a slump in the poultry industry, which is already hit after the bird flu has hit poultry farms in the state.
Animal husbandry authorities say they have advised people not to consume chicken and eggs only from bird-flu affected poultry farms and also those located within one km radius from them. With no single case of bird flu infecting human beings, authorities have repeatedly been advising people to consume well-cooked chicken and boiled eggs as usual. Any abstinence would affect the domestic market.
Authorities say export of poultry birds and eggs is continuing unhindered to Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, West Bengal and other states.
Animal Husbandry director Dr T. Damodar Naidu said, “No fresh cases of avian influenza have been reported from any part of the state. We advise people to consume well cooked chicken meat and boiled eggs originating from unaffected poultry farms without any hesitation, so that the poultry industry in AP does not get affected and cause trouble to farmers.”
