KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin has reminded the Sabah Veterinary Services and Animal Industry Department to tighten controls on entry of foreign livestock following incidences of bird flu (H5N1) in a neighbouring country recently.
“I also urge the public not to buy birds whether fowls or to be kept as pets from the country,” he said at the department’s excellence service awards ceremony here last night.
Yahya, who is also State Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister, said precautions must be taken because bird flu could infect humans and cause fatalities.
Tawau in Sabah is reported to be at risk to a spread of bird flu because of incidences of the disease across its border. — BERNAMA