January 31, 2005

Singapore steps up preventive measures for bird flu

Singapore is stepping up inspections of farms and poultry imports at border checkpoints to keep out bird flu, which has killed 11 people in Vietnam over the past month.

"We have always checked all the consignments of poultry that enter Singapore, but now we will be even more vigilant in our inspections," said Goh Shi Yong, spokesman for the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority.

Singapore has no cases of the disease. Authorities plan to cull all two million chickens in the city-state's five poultry farms and ban imports if a single case of bird flu is detected here.

Bird flu killed or forced the slaughter of millions of birds when it emerged in 10 Asia countries last year. The virus jumped to humans in Vietnam, where it has killed 30 people in the past year, and Thailand, where it killed 12.

The World Health Organization has warned that if the virus alters and becomes easily spread from person-to-person, it could spark a pandemic. There is no evidence that the virus has undergone such a mutation yet.