Around 6,500 birds raised in and around the Government Duck farm at Niranom —the hub of duck farming in upper Kuttanad—will be culled over the next couple of days to control a bird flu outbreak that has struck the region.
The decision was reached at a meeting chaired by Pathanamthitta District Collector S. Prem Krishnan on Monday, after tests confirmed presence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) virus at the duck farm.
At the meeting, it was decided to designate the area within one-km radius around the farm as infected zone, and the area within 10-km radius as survival zone. All birds within the infected zone will be culled, while those within the survival zone will be monitored. Subsequently, a disinfection drive will be carried out across duck farms in the region.
