KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has taken precautionary measures by enhancing the monitoring of the breeding of chicken and ducks in border areas, especially in Tawau and Sandakan to prevent the spread of a new bird flu (H5N1) virus in the state.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin said all related agencies including the Malaysian Royal Customs, the police and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency had been asked to tighten the entry of livestock or livestock products in border checkpoints, airports or sea ports.
“So far, the ministry has not received any report of bird flu cases, but precautionary measures remain a priority to prevent the virus from spreading to the state,” he told a press conference, here yesterday.
Yahya, who is also Sabah Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, said the Department of Veterinary Services and Animal Husbandry would continue to run sampling of carcasses of wild birds including in the forest, for identification and surveillance.
According to a Bernama report earlier, thousands of ducks in Yongyakarta, Central Java and East Java died due to a new strain of avian flu virus during the last four months.
This has been confirmed through laboratory testing and research conducted by the Veterinary Centre (BBVet) in Yogyakarta.
BBVet epidemiologist Putut Djoko Purnomo was quoted as saying that there were suspicions that the new avian flu strain was also attacking other species of birds including thousands of chickens in Yogyakarta. — Bernama
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