Materia Medica Malaysiana

5 sailors being observed for bird-flu in Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia checked five sailors for bird flu Friday in the first possible cases outside a northern state where an outbreak erupted five weeks ago.

The sailors already were showing signs of recovering at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah state on the tip of Borneo island, said Ramlee Rahmat, director-general of Malaysia's Health Department.

The navy personnel fell ill with flu-like symptoms after coming across the remains of dead swallows on Layang-Layang island, part of the disputed Spratlys group, Dr Ramlee said.

The dead birds were being checked for traces of bird flu, said Hawari Hussein, director of the Veterinary Department.

It would be the first time bird flu Malaysian authorities detected bird flu outside the northern state of Kelantan, which was placed under a quarantine a month ago because of an outbreak of the disease.

Test results on the sailors were unlikely before Monday.

Though it was unknown where the birds came from, Malaysia has been dreading the spread of the deadly H5N1 flu strain since the first case was found Aug 17 in a village in the northern peninsular state of Kelantan.

The entire state was placed under quarantine last week after the disease jumped outside an initial 10-km restricted area. The disease came from fighting cocks smuggled from nearby Thailand.

The Spratlys, which are claimed in whole or part by six nations, lie more than 1,000km west of Kelantan.

The World Health Organization says that migratory birds are spreading the disease and believe it is entrenched in parts of Asia after first appearing this year.

No humans have been infected so far in Malaysia, but H5N1 has killed at least 28 people in Thailand and Vietnam.

Veterinary workers have culled more than 7,000 chickens, ducks and pet birds in Kelantan to stop the spread of the disease, touching off a debate in the deeply conservative state over whether the practice is Islamic.

Kelantan Chief Minister Nik Aziz Nik Mat said on Thursday that the cull - in which birds are stuffed into plastic bags and gassed - was as humane as possible but should be done out of public view to avoid upsetting people. -- AP