April 10, 2013

"Furthermore, all the products were imported frozen. So, there is no chance of the virus surviving. I want to give the assurance that based on monitoring done by the Veterinary Services Department, there has been no outbreak of H7N9 in Malaysia. We are still free of all kinds of bird flu."

He was talking to reporters after receiving a delegation from China who is on a visit to Malaysia to inspect swift-let farms and birds nest processing premises, at his ministry here on Tuesday (Apr 2).

He added that in the wake of H7N9 fatalities in Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in China, the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) was staying in close contact with their Chinese counterparts on the latest developments on the outbreak of this new strain of bird flu in the country.

He added that the VSD had tested 1,043 samples of the imports for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) including H7N9 since January and that the results were all negative. He also urged poultry farmers in the country to be on the alert and to immediately report to the department if they come across any sign of a bird flu outbreak.

Meanwhile, on the reported hike in the price of chicken, Noh said the present ceiling price ex-farm was MYR5.40 (US$1.78) per kilogramme. Traders were not allowed to sell above MYR8 (US$2.64) per kilogramme, even if the ex-farm price had risen. He added that the ministry would get to the bottom of the matter.