M'sia reaches bird-flu-free target but remains on high alert
Malaysia had notched up a medically-important 21 days free of bird flu but remained on "high alert" for the deadly virus, an official said today.
No new cases have been detected since Oct 10 when the culling of birds and the disinfection of infected areas had been completed, says the Veterinary Services Department.
Malaysia had notched up a medically-important 21 days free of bird flu but remained on "high alert" for the deadly virus, an official said today.
No cases of the H5N1 strain had been detected since Oct 10, when the culling of birds and the disinfection of infected areas had been completed, Veterinary Services Department director-general Hawari Hussein told AFP.
"Although this fulfills the criteria set by the World Organisation for Animal Health, we will only declare it to be free from bird-flu after another round of surveillance and when lab tests prove negative for the disease," he said.
"The threat of H5N1 is high because it is still active and widespread in neighbouring Thailand. We continue to be on high alert," he said.
If no new cases of bird flu were detected in two weeks time, then Malaysia would be officially declared free from bird flu, he said.
Anti-smuggling controls would continue at border points and roadblocks around the affected northeastern Kelantan state would ensure that no poultry would be transported in or out, he added.
State-wide quarantine
Malaysia's first case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed at least 31 people in Thailand and Vietnam this year, was detected in August in a village in Kelantan, which borders Thailand.
It spread quickly despite the efforts of veterinary and health authorities, prompting the government to impose a quarantine on the state.
Authorities have screened hundreds of villagers for flu-like symptoms but all have tested negative for the virus.
Officials say the disease was first brought into Malaysia by fighting cocks that had been exposed to the virus in Thailand and the new outbreaks were caused by the continued smuggling of chicken meat.
The World Health Organisation has warned that the lethal H5N1 virus is endemic in the region and fears it could mutate into a highly contagious form that triggers a global human flu pandemic.
The disease has caused daily losses of up to RM10 million to Malaysia's poultry industry following import bans by neighbouring Singapore and other countries.
But Singapore agreed to partially lift the ban and resumed importing poultry products from two Malaysian southern states unaffected by bird flu from Sept 30.
