Malaysia says has contained bird flu outbreak

June 15th seems to be contained bird flu announcement day for Burma and Malaysia....True or False

Malaysia says has contained bird flu outbreak

15 Jun 2007 09:43:56 GMT   Source: Reuters
By Naveen Thukral and Liau Y-Sing

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, June 15 (Reuters) - Malaysia has contained a bird flu outbreak and no new cases have been reported after the nation last week found its first infection in village chickens in a year, a top veterinary official said.

Malaysia has reported no human cases of H5N1 infection, but last Wednesday's incident on the capital's doorstep prompted a ban on poultry imports by neighbours Singapore and Indonesia.

"Everything is under control. It has been successfully contained," said Kamarudin Mohamad Isa, head of disease control at Malaysia's veterinary services department.

"Based on our monitoring of the surrounding areas and nationwide, there is no evidence of infection so far and we can say that it is well contained," he told Reuters on Friday.

The outbreak of the H5N1 virus pulled down the shares of Malaysian poultry and fast food firms Leong Hup Holdings Bhd, Farm's Best Bhd and KFC Holdings.

But the official said there was no impact on domestic poultry consumption and exports were not hit.

"It's business as usual and the movement between states is still OK," he said in an interview in the Malaysian administrative capital of Putrajaya. "Singapore is still importing chicken and ducks from all states except Selangor."

He said the authorities had not found any cases of the virus among chickens and ducks within a 10-km (6-mile) radius of the village of Paya Jaras Hilir in central Selangor state.

"But we still continuously monitor the situation. So we will do a second round of surveillance within three weeks."

Malaysia will ask the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare it free of the H5N1 virus if no new cases are detected within two weeks, state news agency Bernama quoted the Malaysian health minister as saying.

"We can say that we are free but WHO has to be convinced," Chua Soi Lek told reporters.

Malaysia has tightened checks at the country's entry points, with veterinary officials searching cars and buses for birds as the virus originated elsewhere, Kamarudin said.

"Illegal smuggling we cannot do much (about), but hopefully we can reduce," he added.

The disease is endemic in bird populations in most parts of Indonesia, where millions of backyard fowl are kept in close proximity to humans and education campaigns often do not reach more remote areas.

Jakarta reported its 80th human death from bird flu on Thursday. The World Health Organisation says H5N1 has infected more than 300 people in 12 countries, many of whom have died since the disease re-emerged in Asia in late 2003.

Most human cases have involved people who have had contact with infected fowl. Experts fear if the virus mutates into a form that allows easy human-to-human transmission, it could trigger a pandemic that could kill millions around the world.