Bird flu strikes in Sungai Buloh

NST: PUTRAJAYA:The bird flu or avian influenza, carrying the H5N1 virus, has made a comeback with the death of 67 chickens at a village in Sungai Buloh.
The chickens died at Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir over three days from Saturday.
This was announced yesterday by Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry secretary-general Da- tuk Dr Zulkifli Idris who said two of the chickens tested positive for the H5N1 virus.
He said his ministry had notified the Federation of Live Fowl Associations of Malaysia to remind its members to exercise caution in the wake of the latest bird flu outbreak.
"As is normal practice, we have also notified the Singapore AVA (Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority) so that the transparency of the ministry is not questioned and import from unaffected areas could continue as usual," he said at a press conference, which was also attended by the Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin.
Zulkifli said measures had been drawn up to ensure the virus was contained.
This included the setting up of eight teams comprising 96 officers, working in shifts to destroy all chickens within a 10km radius of the outbreak.
Besides Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir, three other villages — Kampung Paya Jaras Hulu, Kampung Pa- ya Jaras Dalam and Kampung Kubu Gajah — are within a 1km radius of the affected area.
Some 2,000 chickens are expected to be destroyed.
The last outbreak of bird flu occurred last year in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, in February and several villages in Perak in March. The country was declared free of the virus in June last year.
Abdul Aziz, who visited the area at noon yesterday, said the outbreak was an isolated case.
There has been no new death of chicken.
"The department is investigating the source of the H5N1 virus.
"We expect our operations to destroy the chickens to be completed in 36 hours," he said, adding that all state VSDs had been alerted.
Compensation will be paid to owners of chickens affected by the culling exercise.
Abdul Aziz said the villagers had informed him that the deaths of birds occurred during the start of the school holidays.
"There were not many birds in the kampung concerned. In our one-hour survey, we only saw some 20 birds."
Abdul Aziz said the nearest commercial chicken farm was 12 to 20km away. A duck farm, however, is located 300 metres from the place of the outbreak.
Adnan Mohd Isa’s mother hen and 12 chicks were among those culled last night.
"I accept the officials taking the chickens away as it is in public interest and also for health reasons," he said.
In Kuala Langat, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo said 12,000 people lived in the villages and they had been told to hand over their chickens to the VSD.
It is estimated that there are 7,000 chickens and 5,000 ducks in these villages.
Dr Khir advised villagers to see a doctor immediately if they came down with fever.