The Union health ministry on Thursday formed a team to take stock of the outbreak of avian influenza, or bird flu in Kerala.

“The team will investigate the outbreak in detail and submit report with recommendations,” the ministry said.

Bird flu or avian influenza is a highly contagious disease caused by Influenza Type A viruses, which affects poultry and does not spread easily among humans. Those who come in contact with infected birds can contract the flu.

An outbreak of the disease was confirmed in Kerala’s Alappuzha on Wednesday. It came into light after 1,500 ducks died in the past week in two farms in the city’s Haripad municipality, according to The Hindu.

On Thursday, district authorities said in a statement that 20,471 ducks within the radius of a kilometre of the farms will be culled from October 28 by eight Rapid Response Teams, reported PTI.

The consumption and sale of the egg and meat of domestic birds like duck, hen and quail has been banned in the areas falling under the municipality and nearby panchayats.

Last year, an 11-year-old boy had died due to avian influenza in the first such death registered in India in the year. The child was admitted after being diagnosed with leukaemia and pneumonia at the All India Institute Of Medical Science in Delhi on July 2 and he died on July 12.