June 18, 2007

Malaysia to seek WHO approval to declare itself bird-flu free

Malaysia hopes to obtain the World Health Organization's approval to declare itself free of bird flu in two weeks, the health minister said, following a recent outbreak among chickens.

"We will have to apply to WHO to declare we are free of the H5N1 virus" if no new cases are reported within two weeks, Health Minister Chua Soi Lek was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama, late Friday (Jun 15). "We can say that we are free, but WHO has to be convinced."

One of Chua's aides confirmed the report, but declined to be identified because she could not issue public statements.

Malaysia on June 5 confirmed its first bird flu outbreak in more than a year after tests on 60 birds that died in Sungai Buloh, near the country's commercial capital, Kuala Lumpur, showed they had the virulent H5N1 virus.

Officials slaughtered about 6,000 birds in the area to contain the outbreak, which they called an isolated incident.

Several villagers with flu-like symptoms were hospitalised, but they tested negative for bird flu.

Before the latest incident, Malaysia last reported an outbreak of the H5N1 strain in March 2006 in chickens in a northern village. The government had previously declared the country free of bird flu in June 2006.