August 5, 2004

Malaysia Says No Bird Flu Detected After Early Tests

Malaysia has not found any traces of a strain of bird flu virus after initial tests on a duck farm in Perak state.

The state Veterinary Services Department carried out tests on 300 samples in two days but results showed no traces of the H5 bird flu among ducks at the farm.

Neighboring Singapore on Monday suspended duck imports from the farm after discovering a suspected case of the H5 strain in live ducks shipped from northwest Perak state last week.

The H5 subtype of birdflu is not known to be dangerous to humans and is different from the H5N1 type that swept large parts of Asia early this year, killing 24 people.

"We have conducted various tests at the duck farm since Monday night and nothing so far has indicated the presence of bird flu," Bernama quoted department director Abdul Kadir Osman as saying.

Further tests will be carried out until Sunday, he said.

Singapore imports 20,000 live ducks a day from 42 Malaysian farms.