Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to depute a high-level team to Kerala to take stock of Avian Influenza outbreak in the state. The team will investigate the outbreak in detail and submit report with recommendations.

The 7 member Central team to Kerala comprises of experts drawn from the National Institute of Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases, New Delhi, National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. The team is headed by Dr. Rajesh Kedamani, Sr RD, Regional Office of Health and Family Welfare, Bangalore.

The team will also assist the State Health Departments in terms of public health measures, management guidelines and protocols to manage the increasing cases of Avian Influenza being reported by the State.

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MV

HFW/Avian Influenza-Central team to Kerala/27^th October/4