All 15 admitted cleared of bird flu

Star: PETALING JAYA: All the 15 people who were admitted to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital last week for suspected avian flu tested negative for the H5N1 virus and have been discharged.
There were, however, two new admissions since Sunday. One was a 13-year-old girl who lives within the 300m radius of the area in Jalan Genting Lama, Setapak. She was admitted yesterday afternoon after she showed flu-like symptoms.
The other case involved a 17-year-old girl from the Klang Valley who voluntarily checked into the hospital on Sunday after she became sick and was worried because she had been in contact with chickens.
“Although she is not from the affected area, we have isolated her and are testing her for the virus as a precautionary measure,” Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said at the Tropicana Medical Centre ground-breaking ceremony here yesterday.
Dr Chua said so far, no one had been infected with the deadly H5N1 virus and urged the public not to overreact.
The ministry is now entering its second phase of monitoring, which involves passive surveillance.
“Our first phase of going from house to house within the 300m radius of the affected area has been completed. We are now in the second passive phase where we monitor residents of certain houses, such as those admitted into hospital and discharged,” he said.
Dr Chua said the Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry would make an announcement when the country was free of bird flu.
In Sabah, the police and Customs Department were intensifying efforts to prevent smuggling of poultry into the state to ensure the state remained free of bird flu.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Mangsor Ismail said overland smuggling trails in the southern part of the state, such as at remote Pagalungan in Keningau district, were being closely watched.
“Our personnel manning roadblocks at entry points have been extra vigilant in checking the smuggling of any type of fowl into Sabah,” he said.