The State Animal Husbandry department advised people suffering from fever or cold not to handle the birds.
It is suspected that the migratory birds which came from Siberia via Pakistan and Delhi, might have brought the virus to coastal Kerala, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal urged the Union Government to take steps to assist the state in dealing with the crisis.
Venugopal, also a former Union Minister, told PTI that he has written to Union Agriculture Minister, seeking his urgent intervention and deputing an expert team to the affected area.
He also sought adequate compensation to the farmers whose ducks have been affected.
He recalled the deaths of thousands of ducks in Kuttanad area of Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in 2014 due to bird flu.
Acting on reports of mortality among the birds in Delhi NCR region and other parts of the country due to H5 Avian Influenza Virus, Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave had constituted a monitoring committee to oversee the outbreak.
(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:oneindia.com)
