Swiftlet hotels cleared of bird flu

NST: Residents living near edible bird’s nest swiftlet "hotels" who fear a bird flu threat can rest easy.
Regular surveillance tests by the Department of Veterinary Services since 2000 have all come back negative for the dreaded virus.
The department’s head of exotic animals unit, Dr Fazdilah A’ini Abd Kadir, said that it was highly unlikely for the birds, whose nests can sell for up to RM11,000 per kg, to be carriers of the virus.
"They are non-migratory, and do not share flying or roosting space with other birds. So their chances of contracting the virus is minimal."
The birds, she said, never perched anywhere except on their own nests and the swiftlets did not have the same food and water source as other birds, as they drank water droplets in the atmosphere and were insectivorous.
She added that swiftlet droppings were dry, and tests showed they contained no pathogenic parasites.
The swabs and dropping samples collected from birds in randomly selected swiftlet "hotels" nationwide are subjected to a standard test, which checks for Newcastle Disease and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza or bird flu.
She said the department would continue to monitor the estimated 10,000 swiftlet "hotels" in the country, which generate about 50 tonnes of bird’s nest a year.
Although the import and export of bird’s nest has been regulated since 1962, a guideline for edible nest swiftlet premises was only drafted in 2000, and revised in October.
On a report in the Malay Mail yesterday which highlighted the high noise level and poor hygiene of bird "hotels", she said that the complaints probably arose because the owners of premises did not follow the guidelines.