Bird flu outbreak in Kelantan spreads to 5 other villages

KOTA BARU – Avian flu H5N1 which was earlier detected in Kampung Pulau Tebu in Kelantan has spread to five other villages in the district, Veterinary Services Department director general Dr Kamaruddin Md Isa said on Tuesday (Mar 14).

He added that the disease had also been confirmed in three villages in Pasir Mas.

The villages​ affected in Kota Baru were Kampung Chabang Tiga Sakit, Kampung Gertak Lembu, Kedai Mulong, Kampung Padang Layang and Kampung Kota.

In Pasir Mas, the areas involved were Kampung Becah Semak, Kampung Tempoyak and Kampung Kedondong.

“The cases in Pasir Mas were not spread from Kampung Pulau Tebu. They happened about the same time,” he said.

The Kelantan state government on March 8 had confirmed avian flu cases through samples taken from dead birds in Kampung Pulau Tebu, two days earlier.

State Agriculture, Agro-Biotechnology and Green Technology committee chairman Che Abdullah Mat Nawi was reported as saying that the state Veterinary Services Department acted immediately by culling 170 birds, including ‘kampung’ chickens, guinea fowls, geese, ducks, birds, commercial chickens and 100 eggs from the village.

The state government had also set up a task force to eradicate and control the disease in the affected areas. NEW STRAITS TIMES