August 19, 2004

Malaysia Engaged In Bird Flu Battle

Malaysia gassed hundreds of screeching birds in a village near the Thai border today, seeking a quick end to its first outbreak of bird flu. Malaysia banned exports of poultry and slapped quarantine for 10km around a property where two chickens were found to have been infected with avian influenza yesterday.

The recent deaths of three people in Vietnam have been blamed on the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. That strain was also blamed for 16 deaths in the country and eight in Thailand early this year. Most of the cases this year - including recent outbreaks in China, Indonesia, Canada and South Africa - have been of strains limited to birds, and initial tests suggested the Malaysian outbreak was also unlikely to cross the species barrier.

 Malaysia said the outbreak in northern Kelantan state, around 350km northeast of Kuala Lumpur, was of the H5 strain that only affects birds. But people in the area were being monitored and the birds were being tested for any sign of the deadly H5N1 strain, said Nik Mazian Nik Mohamad, the Kelantan state executive councilor for agriculture.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says past human cases of bird flu have been limited to people living or working in close contact with birds, rather by eating poultry meat or eggs. There has been some infection of health workers, but the WHO's bigger fear is that the virus will mix with human influenza and start a new pandemic that could kill millions of people.

Malaysian officials said the source of the outbreak was not known. However they were eyeing the border with Thailand - the world's fourth largest chicken exporter until bird flu hit this year. The outbreak had prompted a cull of more than 60 million birds.

"We have been on alert ever since the outbreak in southern Thailand. We will tighten the security along the border even more now," Nik Mazian said.

Malaysia said commercially produced poultry was safe and its export ban was just a precaution. Poultry stayed on sale in local shops. Japan had already banned Malaysian poultry after Singapore reported a suspected case of bird flu in imported live Malaysian ducks. The European Union has banned poultry and pet birds from at least nine Asian countries due to bird flu outbreaks.

Bird flu scares have hit the shares of listed Malaysian poultry firms, including Leong Hup Holdings, QSR Brands, KFC Holdings and egg producer TPOC Plus.

Malaysia produces 1.1 million chickens a day, mostly for domestic use. Exports account for around a third of production. Its biggest foreign market, Singapore, had been buying more than 100,000 birds and 2 million eggs from Malaysia each day.