After an outbreak of bird flu was confirmed at Haripad in Kerala's Alappuzha district, the Union Health Ministry has decided to send a high-level team to take stock of the Avian Influenza outbreak in the state.

The team will investigate the outbreak in detail and submit a report with recommendations. The seven-member Central team comprises experts drawn from the National Institute of Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases, New Delhi, the National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, the National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The team is headed by Dr Rajesh Kedamani, Sr RD, Regional Office of Health and Family Welfare, Bengaluru. The ministry said that the team will also assist the state Health Department in terms of public health measures, management guidelines, and protocols to manage the increasing cases of Avian Influenza being reported by the state.

Reportedly, the farmers have lost around 1,500 ducks to the flu in the past week. After the samples of the dead ducks were sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal, the report came out positive for bird influenza.