Overview
- Laboratory tests at NIHSAD Bhopal and the Thiruvalla avian lab confirmed highly pathogenic H5N1 in one ward each across eight Alappuzha panchayats and four Kottayam villages.
- Kerala activated outbreak SOPs with 1‑km culling zones and a 10‑km surveillance and movement‑restriction ring, with field teams deployed and operations ordered to commence in affected areas.
- Authorities and local reports count roughly 55,000 bird deaths so far, with about 25,000 more slated for culling as part of containment.
- The Health Department reports no human infections in the state and has set up control rooms, fever surveillance, PPE provisioning, and One Health volunteer monitoring, urging safe handling and thorough cooking of meat and eggs.
- Recurring outbreaks—now the seventh in 11 years—are battering Kuttanad’s open duck‑rearing sector, prompting compensation demands, while neighboring Tamil Nadu has increased border surveillance and biosecurity checks.