Bird flu outbreak reported in village in Kerala
Alappuzha, Dec 9: An outbreak of bird flu has been reported from Thakazhy Panchayat in Kerala's Alappuzha district prompting authorities to order culling of ducks, hens and other domestic birds within one km radius of the affected areas.
District Collector A Alexander, chaired an urgent meeting of senior officials of the district including those from departments of Animal Husbandry, Health and police on Thursday to take stock of the situation in the wake of the outbreak of the flu.
Official sources said the administration has ordered culling all chickens, ducks and other domestic birds in and around one kilometre radius of the ward No 10 of Thakazhy Grama Panchayat to prevent spread of the virus to nearby areas.
The affected area has been declared as a Containment Zone while the movement of vehicle and people in the area is prohibited, officials said.
Besides, the District Collector has also banned the use and sale of eggs, meat and manure of ducks, chickens, quails and domestic birds in the affected areas. This restriction will be applicable in Champakulam, Nedumudi, Muttar, Viyapuram, Karuvatta, Thrikkunnapuzha, Thakazhy, Purakkad, Ambalapuzha South, Ambalapuzha North, Edathva panchayats and Harippad municipal area, they said.
Rapid response teams have been constituted by the Animal Husbandry Department to cull and destroy the birds in Thakazhy.
The meeting authorised the Assistant Forest Conservator to monitor and inspect whether the migratory birds have been infected with the disease or not.
According to officials, directions were given to the Animal Husbandry Department to submit daily report on bird flu prevention activities in the district.
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If Bumrah is not fit then a score of around 200 also might not be enough: Gavaskar
Sydney, Jan 4: Batting great Sunil Gavaskar feels India will struggle to defend even 200 in case premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is unable to bowl at full throttle on the third day of the fifth and final Test against Australia here on Sunday.
Bumrah had left the field for scans during the second day's post-lunch session after bowling just one over, having experienced some discomfort. However, he returned to the dressing room after undergoing precautionary scans for an unspecified niggle.
India pacer Prasidh Krishna said his skipper had suffered back spasm.
The medical team was monitoring him as India ended the day 145 runs in front with four second innings wickets left on a SCG track which is aiding the bowlers.
"Look, if India scores 40 more runs or they put 185 on the board then they have a great chance but it all depends on Jasprit Bumrah's fitness. If Jasprit Bumrah is fit then 145-150 might be enough. But if Bumrah is not fit then a score of around 200 also might not be enough," said Gavaskar on Star Sports on Saturday.
Gavaskar also said maintaining secrecy around Bumrah's status is not going to help the Australians, who have so far struggled to counter the threat posed by the Indian pace spearhead.
"One thing that I liked was when he came back after the scan, obviously it took a lot of time because the hospital is a bit far, but he looked in good shape and his body language was such that there was no indication of the Australian team and it is very important to maintain the secrecy.
"Because, tactically you do not want to announce whether Bumrah will be available for bowling or not, and even if he is not available and this news goes across the opposition dressing room because till now Australian batsmen haven't found out a way to counter him, they don’t know whether they should attack, defend, or whether they should play on front-foot.
"So to execute this plan it is important to maintain secrecy, so Bumrah and the Indian team management managed it quite well," Gavaskar said.
The pacer has already taken 32 wickets in the series, and had figures of 2/33 in 10 overs before leaving the field, having removed Marnus Labuschagne in the morning session and Usman Khawaja on the last ball of the first evening.
