25.11.2014

India has found two outbreaks of a highly contagious avian influenza virus (H5) in the southern state of Kerala, prompting the authorities to cull more than 200,000 birds. 15,000 ducks died in Kottayam and another 500 in nearby Alappuzha, the first cases of the disease in the country since February this year. Since 2006 India has culled 6.4 million birds due to avian influenza.