 |
||
|
Bird flu outbreak
in Penang
|
||
|
PENANG: A bird flu outbreak has been confirmed in Kampung Permatang Bogak in Kepala Batas after six dead chickens were found positive with the H5N1 strain. It was learnt the kampung chickens died on Saturday and test results came in yesterday. An operation to cull poultry within 1km radius from the village began at 9pm yesterday. The operation involving 200 members from the Veterinary Services and Health Departments, and other government bodies will continue for 48 hours. The avian flu first hit Kampung Pasir Wardieburn in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, on Feb 20. On March 9, the virus was detected among birds at the Bukit Merah Laketown Resort's Eco Park in Kerian, Perak. Two days later, the outbreak had spread to Kampung Changkat Tualang, Kota Baru, Mukim Teja and Kinta. |
Two people, who resided 10km from the resort and were warded at Taiping Hospital for flu-like symptoms, were discharged yesterday. They were suffering from the common cold, Health Ministry's Disease Control director Dr Ramlee Rahmat said. Mustapa said the department is prioritizing the culling of fowls in the affected areas. "It will take some time to find out the type of the bird flu strain that hit Perak," he told the Sun, adding the virus may be carried by migratory birds. Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who visited the Eco Park yesterday after 249 exotic birds worth RM200,000 were culled, said Perak can only be declared free from the H5N1 virus in three to six months. He said the surveillance and screening operations within a 10km radius from where the first case was detected can be completed in about one week. |
But the window period of three to six months is in keeping with the World Animal Health Organization guidelines to ensure an area is really free from bird flu. A ban on the movement of poultry out of Perak has affected 113 duck farms, which supply 20,000 ducks to Singapore. The city-state now gets its supply from Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan. Muhyiddin said the latest finding was not a good sign because even before Gombak had been declared free of the disease, two cases had emerged in Perak and the latest in Penang.
|
|
|
||
