Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand said that the government is taking strict measures to prevent the spread of bird flu in chickens in three districts of the state and that there is no need for the public to worry about this. He reviewed the situation through a video conference with the district collectors from the Secretariat.
Clear instructions have been issued to the collectors and animal husbandry department officials on the steps to be taken to prevent the disease and the steps to be taken to bury dead chickens properly. The central government has also issued guidelines on controlling the spread of bird flu and they have been sent to the collectors and the standard protocol guidelines must be followed.
According to these guidelines, it was clarified that a one-kilometer radius of the infected area should be declared a red zone and movement and transport of feed should be restricted there. The Chief Secretary ordered the animal husbandry department officials to take precautionary measures within a radius of one to nine kilometers and to constantly monitor this matter.
The Collectors were asked about the steps taken in the five poultry farms in Badampudi in Eluru district, Velpur and Kannur in West Godavari district, and Gampalagudem in NTR district, which were infected with bird flu. Health department officials clarified that there has been no report of avian influenza virus infecting humans in the state so far.
They said that it is very rare for it to infect humans and that in the last five years, only four cases of this virus have been reported in places like Maharashtra, Haryana, and West Bengal in the country.
Meanwhile, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Atchannaidu said that all measures are being taken to control bird flu in the state. The government announced that well-cooked eggs and chicken can be eaten without any objection. He said when Jagan circulated a story in the media that a person in Unguturu, West Godavari district had contracted bird flu, the Health Secretary immediately went and inspected it and found it to be false propaganda.
Animal Husbandry Director Damodar Naidu said that only chickens and ducks can get bird flu from migratory birds, and there has been no record of humans getting infected anywhere.
