The authorities today announced a new outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in a village in Penang, but downplayed fears that it was linked to two outbreaks in a neighbouring state.

Six dead birds were found in Permatang Bagak in Seberang Prai, mainland Penang, said Mustapa Jalil, acting director general of the Veterinary Services Department. It was the third outbreak in less than a week.

"We have activated a rapid action team which will slaughter all the birds in the area," he told AFP.

Officials began testing the six free-range chickens, owned by local villagers, after they died on Saturday, he said. The outbreak was confirmed as the deadly H5N1 strain on Monday.

Most of the birds in the village were free-range chickens, he said. At least 200 within a one-kilometre radius of the affected area will be slaughtered.

The village is in the north of mainland Penang, which neighbours Perak where the two outbreaks were announced on Thursday.

Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the three outbreaks were a bad sign given that areas near Kuala Lumpur hit by bird flu in February had not yet been declared free from the virus.

"I have to make this announcement because we do not want to be seen as covering up or hiding anything," he was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency.

Authorities were studying the spread of the virus to come up with the best way to manage the outbreak in future, he said.

Not linked to Perak outbreak

The head of the Veterinary Department's disease control unit, Kamaruddin Mat Isa, said officials did not know how the virus was being spread, but said the latest outbreak was not linked to the Perak outbreaks.

"It has not spread from Perak to Penang," said Kamaruddin, adding that officials on Sunday had completed the slaughter of more than 40,000 birds in Perak to contain the disease.

"It's not spread from one location to the surrounding area, but there are multiple locations," he said, confirming officials were worried over the development.

The Health Ministry's director for disease control, Ramlee Rahmat, said officials would start conducting door-to-door checks on Tuesday in the area around the latest outbreak to check for people with symptoms of the virus.

"It is still localised in three different areas," he said.

No human cases of bird flu have been reported so far in Malaysia.

Malaysia on Thursday announced the two outbreaks of the bird flu virus at a village and a nature reserve near the Perak border with Penang.

Perak has one of the country's biggest poultry industries and exports to neighbouring Singapore.

Muhyiddin said earlier that a poultry quarantine had been imposed on Perak, and that all poultry was banned from leaving the state.

In the first outbreak in Malaysia in more than a year, H5N1 was detected last month in 40 free-range chickens in four villages on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
About 100 people have died from bird flu since 2003, most of them in Asia.