19 minutes
PETALING JAYA: The public is told not to panic in light of an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu, H5N1, in the farm city of Hunan, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MOA) said.
Its deputy minister Sim Tze Tzin (pix) assured that the situation is under control and the ministry, through the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services (Maqis), has begun conducting regular inspections of poultry from China at all Malaysian entry points as a precaution.
“There is no need to panic,“ Sim said when contacted today.
“In terms of poultry, we are 103% self-sustainable in the country. We only import a small portion of processed chicken from China.”
Sim added that a ban on imported food from China will only come into effect once there is a reported case, following instruction from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) of which Malaysia’s Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) will make the announcement, if and when necessary.
Meanwhile, deputy health minister Lee Boon Chye said that H5N1 is an influenza virus and “it occasionally transmits from infected bird to human.”
“To date, there is no human to human transmission of H5N1. Therefore, prime focus should be on preventing the infection from affecting our poultry livestock (which is under the purview of) the MOA.
“So far, no human vaccine or specific medications are available. There are, however, several vaccines for animal use.”
Lee stressed that “H5N1 is NOT a public health issue in Malaysia but poultry farmers are asked to take preventive measures as advised by the MOA.”
According to reports, a case of H5N1 was reported at a farm in Hunan of which out of its 7,850 chickens, 4,500 had died of the bird flu. Following this, authorities culled 17,828 poultry to contain the onset of the virus.
