The government may introduce stiffer penalties to curb poultry smuggling in Kelantan which is hit by bird flu outbreaks, as three new patients were placed under observation.

Health ministry disease control director Ramlee Rahmat told AFP that two teenage girls and a 48-year-old man were hospitalised late Wednesday after developing cough and flu-like symptoms.

"They have a history of contact with the dead animals. Their chest X-ray looks normal and their condition is stable but we are isolating them as a precaution pending test results," he said.

He said a four-year-old girl in Kelantan, and a veterinary department trainee staff hospitalised in Penang after developing fever following her return from Kelantan, remain under isolation.

But two teenage boys admitted late Tuesday have been cleared of the disease.

The entire state of Kelantan was placed under quarantine Wednesday, effectively banning the movement of poultry throughout its borders, after the bird flu virus was found to have jumped outside the original quarantine zone.

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

Fine inadequate

The veterinary department director-general Hawari Hussein told a news conference that the situation in Kelantan was under control and the quarantine would be enforced as long as necessary.

He said the ministry would hold a meeting tomorrow with other enforcement agencies to discuss ways to tighten security and introduce stiffer penalties for poultry smugglers as the current fine of up to RM5,000 was too low.

"We have 24-hour roadblocks at all exit points in Kelantan. Border security has been intensified. The government is looking at this issue very seriously but we need the cooperation of everybody. It is not a game of hide-and-seek," he added.

Kelantan breeds about 2.8 million chicken and ducks, and Hawari said about 4,000 of the birds have so far been culled after the deadly H5N1 strain was detected.

Senior Malaysian health officers said they hoped to meet their Thai counterparts next week to seek deeper commitment to combat the spread of the virus, including strengthening border security.

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.

The World Health Organization warned last week that more people were likely to die from bird flu and said Thailand was still doing too little to monitor the spread of the virus.