KUCHING: Malaysia does not import any live animal or product from Shaoyang in China’s Hunan Province, where an outbreak of a highly-pathogenic strain of the H5N1 bird flu has been reported, says the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) of Malaysia.
In a statement issued yesterday, the department said it would continue to monitor the situation, and be in touch with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to obtain the status of the H5N1 situation from time to time.
“Malaysia imports chicken cuttings from a chicken processing plant in Liaocheng, Shangdong, which is about 1,313km away from the site of the outbreak.
“We regularly take samples of the chicken cuttings to be tested for H5N1 and so far, there has been no positive sample.
“Precautionary measures will be stepped up and samples will be taken from every consignment for testing,” the DVS statement said further.
Last Saturday, Reuters reported that China had an outbreak of H5N1 that occurred in a Shaoyang farm, with 7,850 chickens – 4,500 of which had died from the bird flu. The Chinese authorities had culled 17,828 birds following the outbreak.