Bird samples test negative for virus

NST: IPOH, PERAK: More than 2,000 random samples of saliva swabs obtained from various species of migratory birds at the Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary have tested negative for the H5N1 bird flu virus.
The samples were collected since last August, with the latest taken three days before the virus was detected last Thursday in Bukit Merah and Gopeng.
State veterinary officer Dr Wan Mohd Kamil Wan Nik said yesterday many more samples were collected in the current migration cycle than in the past.
"Before, we collected about 800 random samples during the nine-month period from August to April.
"But since last August, we have doubled the number," he said, adding outbreaks in several countries around the globe necessitated the collection of more samples.
He said physical surveillance at the sanctuary to locate dead migratory birds had also been heightened but none had been found so far.
Migratory birds are believed to have caused the outbreak among exotic birds at the Bukit Merah Laketown Resort Ecopark and kampung chickens in Kampung Changkat Tualang in Kota Baru near Gopeng, Perak.
Dr Wan Kamil said the State Department of Veterinary Services would investigate how the virus spread to the two areas which were 150km apart.
"As we view seriously the detection of the virus in the two areas, surveillance in other areas visited by migratory birds such as the Kinta Nature Park in Batu Gajah will be intensified," he said.
The Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary was gazetted in 1970 for the purpose of protecting about 50 migratory and resident bird species which have been using the wetlands for generations.
Migratory birds such as Eurasian curlews, redshanks, golden plovers, terns, egrets and gulls flock to the wide mudflats for feeding and resting during their migration from the northern to the southern hemisphere and vice-versa.
Birds are also attracted to the Kinta Nature Park, also known as Taman Alam. It attracts 129 bird species, including 70 protected under the Wildlife Act 1972. However, the park has yet to be gazetted as a wildlife sanctuary.