COIMBATORE: After bird flu cases were confirmed in two of the districts in Kerala, vehicles carrying poultries and related items from Kerala were prohibited from entering into Tamil Nadu from Tuesday morning.
Vehicles were closely monitored at 12 places near the interstate border in Coimbatore and at one location near Tirupur.
“We have started checking the vehicles entering into Coimbatore from Kerala at 12 locations including Walayar, Velanthavalam, Meenakshipuram and Gopalpuram – where the movement of vehicles carrying poultries will be high. Officials from police department, revenue department, animal husbandry department and forest department and three to four personnel were deployed in each check post,” said Dr Perumalsamy, joint director (JD) of animal husbandry department.
Explaining that the vehicles entering into the state will be monitored round the clock, he said that all the vehicles that are carrying poultries and related items like eggs and fodders will be sent back and other vehicles will be allowed to enter only after fumigation.
“If the empty vehicles are found without feathers and birds’ excrete, it will be sent back and allowed to enter into the state only after the vehicle was cleaned and disinfected with chlorine disinfectant,” he added.
Explaining that the flu – H5N8 (Avian influenza) - is commonly found in migratory birds, the official said that the animal husbandry department along with forest department has been monitoring the water logging areas where the movement of migratory birds is high in the district to detect unusual behaviour or unusual death of birds.
“We are also closely watching the rural backyard poultry farms in the district. Awareness about the diseases is also high among poultry farmers,” he added.
We have been collecting 200 samples – blood or excrete in case of domestic birds and excrete only in case of migratory birds -- every month and send it to a testing laboratory in Erode to ensure that birds are not affected by any virus, he added.
In Tirupur, three officials per shift were deployed near Manupatti at Udumalpet to check the vehicles and it will be carried out round the clock, said Dr Paarivendhan, JD, animal husbandry, Tirupur.
“Movement of poultries from Tamil Nadu to Kerala is high and it is only in rare cases, poultry mainly ducks are transported from Kerala to the state. In Palladam alone, we have 3500 farms where lakhs of broilers are reared and Kerala is our main consumer,” he added.