‘Duck deaths in Kalamassery not due to bird flu’

Officials investigating if area where birds are reared is polluted

The district unit of the Animal Husbandry Department has said there was no case of bird flu in the reported death of ducks in Kalamassery. Department sources said duck deaths were reported from the same area near HMT Colony in Kalamassery earlier and samples were sent to the Avian Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Thiruvalla. The results ruled out bird flu, they said. A farmer in the HMT Colony area had approached the district veterinary office complaining that he had lost a substantial number of birds over a period of four weeks. The officials are investigating if the area where the ducks are reared is polluted. Both water and soil samples from the area have been sent to the Regional Analytical Laboratory in Kakkanad to test for possible chemical contamination to ascertain the cause of the reported duck deaths.