Materia Medica Malaysiana

Ensuring poultry farm workers are protected

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 12:
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To ensure workers at poultry farms are not ex-posed to possible avian flu, the Cabinet has roped in the Human Re-sources Ministry.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn said his ministry would work closely with the Agriculture, Home, Health and Defence ministries.

"Our role will be to protect workers against the disease," he said after chairing the ministry's post-Cabinet meeting today.

He said all workers at bird farms must strictly abide by the directive issued by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health to wear protective gear at all times when handling birds.

"This directive also applies to those in wet markets, zoos and shops," he said, adding that so far, the depart-ment had checked 75 farms and all had adhered to the guidelines and directives.

He said DOSH enforcement offi-cers in all States have been told to check bird farms and shops and submit a report.

Fong said complacency over the threat of bird flu and other such contagions could lead to a RM50,000 fine and three-year jail term under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

"No one can afford to be complacent. It's important that everyone co-operate to ensure that our farms and workers are free of the deadly disease," he said.

He said anyone entering a bird farm or pet shop must adopt protective measures, irrespective of whether they were members of the public, enforcement officers or operators.

The deadly H5N1 strain of the disease has killed five people in Thailand and 14 in Vietnam, but so far health experts believe humans there have only been infected through contact with sick birds.

Until today, 11 countries — the United States, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Pa-kistan, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia — have reported outbreaks of avian flu.

Meanwhile, the Veterinary Ser-vices Department said it would con-tinue checks at bird farms until the avian flu outbreak was contained.

"We will still place Malaysia on high-risk alert," Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Hawari Hussein said.

He said the focus was on the bor-ders and entry points, including airports and ports.

Malaysia has banned imports of all livestock, meat, eggs and poultry-re-lated products from countries affected by avian flu.

Importers have been advised not to import the banned items. If found doing so, the items would be confis-cated and disposed of.

Until yesterday, Dr Hawari said, the department had checked 3,968 establishments — chicken farms (2,612), layer farms (388), cross-bred chicken farms (75), duck farms (195), pet or bird shops (123), bird sanctuaries (five), quail and all other bird farms (237), wet markets (300), and chicken abattoirs (33).