Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Gombak Now Free Of H5N1 Virus

PENANG, April 4 (Bernama) -- The Gombak district can now be declared free of the bird flu after no new case of H5N1 virus was reported for the past month.
Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the area could be declared safe because the poultry samples tested were found to contain no bird flu virus.
However, the government had to wait from the standard report of the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) to officially confirm that the area was really safe and free of the H5N1 virus, he told reporters after launching two tuna fishing boats belonging to Blue Ocean Fisheries Sdn Bhd and the International Tuna Wharf here.
The Gombak district was hit with the bird flu outbreak last month, followed by Perak and Penang.
Muhyiddin also said that the government was coordinating the payment of compensation to poultry farmers whose birds were culled to contain the disease.

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