Malaysia said its capital had seen no new cases of bird flu after being hit earlier this year and the situation in the country at large was under control.

In the first outbreak in Malaysia in more than a year, the killer H5N1 virus was detected in February in 40 free-range chickens in four villages in Gombak district in Kuala Lumpur.

"The avian influenza outbreak first detected in (Gombak district) has been successfully contained," Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a statement.

Surveillance of the affected area for over 21 days since the outbreak "uncovered no evidence that the H5N1 virus had spread," he said.

"Therefore (the villages) and surrounding areas are no longer considered an avian influenza-affected zone," he added.

But the minister said the area could only be declared bird-flu free after three months without any new cases.

The outbreaks in the capital prompted officials to step up surveillance to include the Petronas Twin Towers and the National Zoo, both of which are within a 10-kilometre (6.2 mile) radius of the affected district.

60,000 birds slaughtered

Officials in protective suits slaughtered nearly 60,000 birds while authorities embarked on a campaign to boost plummeting sales of poultry.

Health officials believe that fighting cocks smuggled in from neighbouring countries could have been the source of Kuala Lumpur's outbreak.

Since then, the country has suffered five other outbreaks of the H5N1 virus among poultry in the northern states of Perak and Penang.

But Muhyiddin said the bird flu situation in the country was "under control" and told people it was safe to consume poultry and eggs.

Neighbouring Singapore, the biggest market for Malaysian poultry, has suspended poultry and egg imports from central Selangor state, which surrounds the capital.

Bird flu has killed more than 100 people worldwide since 2003, mostly in Asia. There have been no human deaths in Malaysia.