September 14, 2004

Malaysia Expands Bird Flu Monitoring To Cover State

Malaysia expanded its intensive surveillance for bird flu Monday to cover an entire state bordering Thailand. This move comes after the virus was discovered in a sixth village since erupting a month ago.

Veterinary authorities in Kelantan state said clinical checks would be carried out at high-risk areas like wet markets, pet shops and bird sanctuaries.

Until now, intensive monitoring had been confined to a 10-kilometer radius around the village, where bird flu was first discovered on Aug. 17 in fighting cocks believed to have been smuggled from Thailand.

The virus has since been discovered in five locations within the zone despite the efforts of hundreds of veterinary and health workers to cull thousands of birds and screen residents to contain the disease.

"We have embarked on intensive monitoring for the whole of Kelantan to make sure the state is free from bird flu and to determine whether the virus still exists in this state," said Idris Kadir, director of veterinary services in the state.

On Monday, veterinary officials said they had found the H5 virus in quail in a village in the 10-kilometer quarantine area. In previous cases, further tests have shown H5 to be the deadly H5N1 strain.

Malaysian Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said talks were planned with Thai authorities on tightening border checks.

The discovery of the flu last month resulted in a nationwide alert at poultry farms. But the Malaysian industry is suffering from export bans leveled by several countries, including its largest market, Singapore.