With geese dying in giant numbers in Kuttanad and higher Kuttanad, samples of affected birds will be sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, for evaluation.
According to authorities, round 22,000 geese died in the previous week or so. Majority of the lifeless geese belonged to two farmers in Thalavady and Pallippad grama panchayats.
The choice to ship samples to NIHSAD was taken after exams carried out at a virology lab in Thiruvananthapuram was inconclusive.
Officials mentioned that necropsy had discovered bacterial, fungal infections, ascites, and liver, coronary heart and lung illnesses in geese.
Mixed infections
“The exact cause of mass deaths of ducks is yet to be ascertained. The initial tests came back inconclusive. Tests have revealed mixed infections in ducks. Bacterial/fungal infections or other diseases found in the dead ducks could be secondary infections caused as a result of a primary virus infection. Tests to be conducted at the lab in Bhopal will help identify the primary cause of deaths,” mentioned an official with the Animal Husbandry Department.
Santhosh Kumar, District Animal Husbandry Officer, mentioned that they anticipated to obtain the outcomes from NIHSAD in a few days.
Medicines ineffective
“Medicines remain ineffective. But the disease is largely confined to two places and there are no signs of it being spread to more areas. At present, we cannot say it is a highly pathogenic strain. We will have to wait for results from Bhopal for any confirmation,” Dr. Santhosh Kumar mentioned.
On Monday, a crew led by Priya P.M., affiliate professor, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, visited Kuttanad and picked up samples for testing. The check outcomes are anticipated in the approaching days.
Earlier cases
Earlier in February, a lot of geese had died at Pavukkaram, close to Mannar, due to a bacterial an infection. Samples examined on the Avian Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Thiruvalla then revealed that the geese had been contaminated with Riemerella anatipestifer, an antibiotic-resistant micro organism.
In September 2018, a lot of geese succumbed to bacterial an infection in higher Kuttanad. Before that hen flu (avian influenza), attributable to the H5N8 virus, was detected amongst geese in Kuttanad in 2016. In 2014, 1000’s of geese died/culled in the area following a extremely infectious hen flu outbreak attributable to H5N1 virus.
