Singapore has increased inspections of imported live chickens at its border with Malaysia amid rising fears of the bird flu spreading across the region, an official said today.

A spokesman for the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said the number of checks had increased and that more samples were being sent to the laboratory for testing.

"We have increased our vigilance," he said, adding the checks were only a precautionary measure.

Singapore imports around 120,000 chickens daily from Malaysia, which is linked to the city-state by a bridge and a causeway.

Both Singapore and Malaysia have remained unscathed by the avian influenza, which has hit nine countries so far. Malaysia said today it was using the same protective measures it put in place during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that killed almost 800 people worldwide last spring after emerging in southern China.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed at least eight people, two in Thailand and six in Vietnam, and led to the culling or deaths of millions of chickens in the region.

On Monday, Singapore authorities warned the public to stay away from the island-state's seven poultry farms as part of a series of "biosecurity" measures aimed at preventing the virus reaching the country.

The city-state has banned chicken imports from Thailand. - AFP