A four-member Central team from the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), Government of India, will carry out field investigations in Kozhikode district from Monday to Wednesday in view of the Nipah virus outbreak.
The team, which is predicted to arrive on Sunday evening, consists of H.R. Khanna, Joint Commissioner (National Livestock Mission), Vijay Kumar Teotia, Joint Commissioner (Livestock Health), and one professional every from the ICAR-National Institute of High Security Diseases, Bhopal, and the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Bengaluru.
Nipah is a zoonotic disease affecting each people and animals.
The DAHD has directed the team to submit day by day stories and advise the Animal Husbandry division on measures for illness prevention maintaining in thoughts the ‘One Health’ method.
The Central team will probably be joined by a team from the State Institute for Animal Diseases (SIAD), Palode.
This team will include Sheela Saly T. George, Chief Disease Investigation Officer; Nandakumar, Disease Investigation Officer; and veterinary surgeons. The SIAD team has additionally requested specialists from the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) and the State Forest division to be a part of the team.
Surveillance
Last week, the State Animal Husbandry division had stepped up surveillance in the livestock sector in view of the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode district.
The division had additionally issued a set of tips for farmers and the general public.
In pigs, as an example, the illness impacts the respiratory system and the nervous system. Chronic cough is a significant symptom in pigs. Steps have been taken to establish pig farms close to the epicentre of the outbreak and put them below surveillance for signs.