(MY) bird flu

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Latest bird flu source unknown - Malaysiakini

 

Jun 7, 07 2:23pm

 

Thousands of birds were being destroyed today after avian flu

resurfaced in Malaysia but the source of the outbreak remained

unclear, a health official said.

 

Authorities had already killed 1,359 birds in and around the affected

village since the virus was confirmed late Tuesday, said Kamarudin

Mohammed Isa, head of disease control at the Department of Veterinary

Services.

 

The cull began after a villager reported the death of 60 of his birds

on the western outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, officials said.

 

The outbreak is Malaysia's first in more than a year.

 

Kamarudin said there were " a few more thousand " birds still to be

destroyed in the area. " It's chickens and other birds, a few quails, "

he said.

 

Officials in white protective suits began the cull last night,

collecting birds, including pets and geese, for testing and disposal.

 

After taking swabs, the birds were placed in sacks to be taken away

and killed later.

 

All birds in a one-kilometre radius of the outbreak would be

destroyed, officials said.

 

Isolated outbreak

 

Kamarudin said authorities were still trying to track the source of

the infection.

 

" This is the thing that we cannot answer. We can only answer after

studying the virus, " he told AFP.

 

Officials have called the outbreak isolated and said no other cases

have been detected elsewhere in Malaysia.

 

Neither has the virus spread to humans, Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said.

 

Malaysia reported outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in

February last year when it appeared in free-range chickens near Kuala

Lumpur, triggering the slaughter of tens of thousands of birds.

 

There were no human cases.

 

Five other outbreaks followed elsewhere but the country declared

itself free of bird flu in June.

 

H5N1 has killed 188 people and ravaged poultry flocks worldwide since

2003, according to the World Health Organisation.

 

Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form easily spread among

humans, leading to a global pandemic with the potential to kill

millions.

- AFP