The Animal Husbandry department has stepped up surveillance in the livestock sector in view of the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode district.
The department has formed a team under the District Animal Husbandry Officer, Kozhikode, in view of the recent outbreak. A district surveillance team has been tasked with finding out whether pig farms exist within five km of the epicentre of the outbreak and to keep them under surveillance.
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The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting convened by the Additional Director, Animal Husbandry Department, on Thursday.
Veterinary surgeons have been directed to create awareness among livestock farmers in Kozhikode about the Nipah virus and the precautions to be adopted. The Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Kannur, will provide the technical assistance to Animal Husbandry sector in Kozhikode district.
The department has also tasked veterinarians/officers with prior experience in tackling Nipah for surveillance and collection of samples.
In view of the outbreak, the department has issued a set of guidelines for farmers and the public.
Nipah is a zoonotic disease affecting both humans and animals, although it has never been reported in pet animals in Kerala so far, according to the department. Fruit bats are a common carrier of the Nipah virus, but they never display symptoms or die of it. The virus may be present in fruits bitten by bats.
Eating the fruits can transmit it to humans and pigs. In pigs, the disease affects the respiratory system and the nervous system. Chronic cough is a major symptom in pigs. As it resembles the bark of dogs, it is also called ‘barking pig syndrome’. The disease also affects the nervous system, displaying shivering, and seizure-like symptoms.
Generally, disease transmission occurs quickly in pigs, the department has warned farmers/breeders, urging them to remain alert. Farmers/breeders have been directed to alert the nearest veterinary facility if symptoms are found or in the event of unnatural deaths among the animals. Farmers have been directed not to purchase animals from the disease-hit regions.
