November 9, 2005

Malaysia says bird flu not cause of death for seven pigeons

Malaysian authorities on Wednesday ruled out bird flu as the cause of death for seven pigeons, saying the country remained free of the disease but was on alert for any possible outbreak.

The seven dead pigeons sparked a bird flu scare when they were found over the weekend in the northern Malaysian district of Sungei Petani, 200 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur.

"All the tests are negative ... it is not bird flu," said Hawari Hussein, director general of the Veterinary Services Department. "We continue to be on the alert."

Earlier last week, some 100 dead pigeons were discovered in the town of Bidor, about 120 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur, but tests later showed they had not been infected by the virus.

Newspaper reports suggested the pigeons might have been poisoned because they were a nuisance.

So far, no humans were known to have died of bird flu in Malaysia. Malaysia declared itself free of bird flu in January this year, more than six weeks after its last infection was detected in villages in the north-eastern Kelantan state.

The disease was discovered there in August last year in fighting cocks smuggled from neighbouring Thailand.