Malaysia has stepped up efforts to avert a bird flu outbreak, tightening border security and planning to punish bird smuggling after neighbouring Indonesia went on alert.

Shares in poultry-producing firms continued to decline on the Malaysian stock exchange in morning trade Thursday due to rising fears of an outbreak in this country which declared itself free of the virus early this year.

The cabinet has said it wants authorities to prosecute anyone caught smuggling live, processed or even cooked poultry into the country, the Star newspaper reported.

Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that currently offenders only had their goods confiscated and destroyed.

"At the moment, we are still free from the avian influenza but we need to be stringent at all times to prevent it," he told the daily.

Authorities are tightening security at all border points, with more random checks on travellers' luggage, the minister added.

Task force

Malaysia announced yesterday that it would set up a multi-agency task force charged with preventing an outbreak, comprising officials from the agriculture, health, customs and immigration departments, police and armed forces.

The national Zoo Negara said it was stepping up its monitoring of the animals under its care, after Jakarta's Ragunan zoo was closed due to an outbreak there.

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said yesterday that the archipelago faced a bird flu "epidemic" after the disease killed at least four people, comments that the health ministry tried to play down today.

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

Bird flu caused daily losses of up to RM10 million (US$2.63 million) to Malaysia's poultry industry following import bans by neighbouring Singapore and other countries at the height of the outbreak.

Malaysia declared itself free from bird flu after battling to contain the virus in the affected area in the northeastern state of Kelantan. There were no known human transmissions.