The government today placed the entire northeastern state of Kelantan under quarantine to prevent the spread of bird flu as three more villagers were hospitalised after developing symptoms.

The move, which restricts the movement of poultry throughout the state, came after the bird flu virus was found to have jumped outside the original quarantine zone around the first village in Kelantan hit by the virus.

Bird flu has killed 28 people in Vietnam and Thailand this year and led to the slaughter of millions of birds.

"Yes. We are seeing a trend that it is showing up in areas outside the original quarantine zone so we have to take steps to ensure that it does not spread," Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters when asked if the whole state was under quarantine.

"We have set up roadblocks at border checkpoints to prevent anyone from transporting poultry out of the state."

Veterinary officers are beefing up surveillance throughout Kelantan, especially in infected areas, and neighbouring states such as Terengganu have also been put on the alert to ensure it doesn't spread there, he added.

Culling activities

Health ministry disease control director Ramlee Rahmat told AFP that three people, including an eight-year-old girl, who were hospitalised over the weekend have been cleared of the disease.

But three children - a 12-year-old boy, a 14-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl - from nearby villages were admitted for observation late Tuesday after developing cough and flu-like symptoms, he said.

"All three have a history of contact with the dead animals. We are isolating them as a precaution pending test results," he said.

Culling activities are ongoing but only in affected villages, he added.

Muhyiddin earlier this week also suggested the use of the tough Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial, against poultry smugglers to curb rampant smuggling across the border.

Officials say the disease was first brought into Malaysia by fighting cocks that had been exposed to the virus in Thailand and that the new outbreaks were caused by the continued smuggling of chicken meat.

Malaysia is seeking an urgent meeting with Thai authorities to discuss measures to combat the spread of the virus, including strengthening border security.

Alert in Thailand

Thailand has put nine more people under surveillance for suspected bird flu, officials said.

Eighty people have now been put under observation since the reappearance of the virus in July, according to Thailand's public health ministry, with all but 12 of them cleared of having the deadly H5N1 virus.

One person died last week and a further 11 were awaiting test results, according to a statement. The new cases included two boys aged 11 and 13, living in different provinces.

Thailand has been criticised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for not doing enough to monitor birds capable of carrying the deadly avian flu virus following the kingdom's ninth human death last week.

The WHO fears that the H5N1 virus could mutate into a highly contagious form that triggers a global human flu pandemic.