According to a ProMed report, authorities in the state of Kerala diagnosed a case of HPAI in a flock of 18,000 ducks in Payippad. The diagnosis was confirmed as H5N1 at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases located in Bhopal. Appropriate depopulation and surveillance have been initiated.
A number of cases of H5N1 avian influenza have been diagnosed in ducks and free-living birds in India this year suggesting a seasonal endemic status.