Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Dr. TanDY

Malaysia May Be Free of Bird Flu Virus by June, Official Says

Source: Bloomberg

April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's government has been able to contain outbreaks of bird flu in three of the nation's states and may declare the country free of the virus by June.

``We should be able to declare the country free of bird flu if there are no new cases reported in three months,'' Mustapa Abdul Jalil, acting director-general of the veterinary services department, told reporters in Putrajaya, outside the Kuala Lumpur capital. ``That should be around middle of June,'' he said.

Malaysia stepped up measures to contain bird flu after fresh outbreaks last month that forced poultry farmers to cut output by as much as 40 percent in a bid to restore prices. Malaysia in February reported its first outbreak in more than a year in the central state of Selangor.

As many as 24,081 chickens, 32,012 ducks and 1,992 birds have been culled, Mustapa said. Surveillance of areas 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) around infected places have revealed no new cases of bird flu, he said.

Outbreaks of the H5N1 strain in fowl increase the risk of human infection and provide the virus more opportunity to mutate into a form that may trigger a pandemic and kill millions of people, according to the World Health Organization.

The areas where there were outbreaks have occurred are Pasir Wardiburn in the Gombak district in Selangor state, Ecology Park in Bukit Merah Laketown Resort and Changkat Tualang village in Perak state, and Penang.

Two stages of culling have been carried out in the three areas and all samples were negative for the deadly strain of H5N1 virus, he said. The last stages of culling will be at the Titigantung area and Permatang Bogak, he said.

The government has surveyed 16,646 premises in 11 states and Kuala Lumpur, he said. The government also temporarily suspended imports of chicken from all infected countries in Europe and Asia, he said.

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:02 pm Post subject:

Another follow-up

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Source: techplanetasia.com

Bird flu takes a break in Malaysia, Myanmar

Date: 17 April 2006

Malaysia has been able to contain bird flu outbreaks in Selangor, Perak and Penang, and hopes to declare itself free of the virus in two months.

Mustapa Abdul Jalil, acting director-general of the veterinary services department, says that if no new cases surface, the country would have had a clean bill of health for the last three months by mid-June.

To date, about 24,000 chickens, 32,000 ducks and 2,000 birds have been culled, and surveillance of areas 10 km around infected places have revealed no new cases of bird flu, says Mustapa.

The virus seems to have petered out in neighbouring Myanmar as well. The governmental restrictions on the central Mandalay and Sagaing divisions, where the H5N1 virus was first discovered on March 8, could be lifted by the end of this month.