No Bird Flu Cases Reported In M'sia Till Now
Bernama, 27 Oct 2005

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 27 (Bernama) -- The Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Thursday reiterated that there are no cases of bird flu reported in Malaysia.

"Praise the god, until now there is none after the last one in 2004 in Kelantan but that is over now and the whole world knows we are free from the flu ," he said.
 

Muhyiddin told this to reporters after a function at the State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry here Thursday when asked about the epidemic that is currently seen in Europe, North Asia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Even then the action plan to handle the epidemic had been set into motion with the Health Ministry and several enforcement agencies already taking pre-emptive steps.

However, he said, the ministry is worried over the smuggling of chicken and birds, alive or processed, from neighboring countries especially where the epidemic occurred and this needs stringent enforcement at the border.

Muhyiddin said he hoped that heavier penalty apart from confiscating the animal smuggled should be imposed on those who bring in chicken or   birds     from     neighboring

countries to Malaysia.

The public should also play a proactive role by informing the authorities if they find that their chickens or birds are infected so that early action could be taken and the government would pay compensation in the event their livestock are destroyed because of the disease, he said.-- BERNAMA