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KUALA LUMPUR: Migratory birds flying north did not spread the
H5N1 bird flu virus to Penang.
Malaysian Nature Society executive director Dr Loh Chi Leong
said tests on more than 2,000 migratory birds came back
negative.
He said this was because the birds spent winter in Australia,
which was free of the flu, before flying to Malaysia.
The birds include Eurasian curlews, redshanks, golden plovers,
terns, egrets and gulls.
"If these birds were infected, then we would be seeing many such
dead birds around. But we don’t see that," he added. |
The only migratory birds capable of resisting the disease and
spreading the virus are ducks and geese.
"Yet these are not the species of birds that fly to our part of
the world," he added.
Migratory birds flying to Malaysia later head north towards
Siberia and Japan.
Areas like Tanjung Tuan and Kuala Gula are used by the birds for
feeding and resting during migration. |
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