June 17, 2004

 

 

Singapore's New Test For Bird Flu Variants To Take Just Hours
 

Testing for the different virus subtypes of bird flu - which led to the mass slaughter of poultry in many farms across Asia early this year - takes just hours now, as compared to days previously. This enables the Singapore authorities to take prompt action should bird flu, otherwise known as avian influenza, spread in local poultry farms.

 

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) stated on Thursday that it is now able to quickly diagnose the H5 and H7 virus subtypes of bird flu following improvements in its testing capabilities.

 

Using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, the waiting time to accurately diagnose these subtypes has been drastically cut to within seven hours.

 

It used to take up to three days under the traditional virus isolation technique, which also has other limitations.

 

The previous Directigen test is only able to detect flu viruses as a group and not by specific virus subtypes.

 

This new means of bird flu diagnosis is so reliable that the AVA says the PCR test will act as a "trigger" to determine whether action such as culling needs to be taken.

 

"Once an H5 or H7 subtype of AI (avian influenza) is confirmed by the PCR test in any of the local poultry farms, the poultry in all the farms will be culled and safely disposed of," said the AVA statement.

 

"Similarly, upon detection of H5 and H7 subtypes of AI in import consignments, affected regions will be suspended from exporting live birds and poultry products to Singapore."

 

The AVA also assured that Singapore remains free from bird flu. The authority added it will maintain vigilance to keep the disease out of the country.

 

Bird flu is highly dangerous to poultry, and can also affect humans.

 

The bird flu outbreak spread across Asia early this year, leading to the deaths of many people and the culling of millions of poultry.

 

The virus infected farms in Thailand, Vietnam, China and Japan. Farms in further regions like Pakistan, Canada and the United States were also affected.

 

Although the virus did not affect Singapore's poultry farms, the AVA culled 5,000 healthy chickens in mid-February to test its readiness should an outbreak occur.