H5N1 Cases In Malaysia's Kelantan: No Impact On Singapore's Poultry, Egg Supply

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, March 10 (Bernama) -- The current bird flu outbreak in Kelantan does not have any impact on Singapore's poultry and egg supply as it only allows import from five disease-free zones in Malaysia. Singapore's Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) said the disease-free zones are Malaysian states of Johor, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak. "We do not import poultry and eggs from Kelantan as it is not an approved source," AVA said in its website on Thursday. AVA said it will continue to work closely with Malaysia's Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) to ensure that poultry and eggs imported do not compromise public and animal health. Singapore currently imports about 35 per cent of chicken and 93 per cent of ducks from Malaysia. There are other sources of poultry including Brazil and the United States. "About 76 per cent of our egg supply comes from Malaysia while our local farms account for the remaining 24 per cent," said the Authority. AVA assured that poultry and poultry products in Singapore are safe for consumption. Malaysia's Health Ministry on Thursday confirmed that there have been no H5N1 avian flu infection in humans thus far, even though there are cases of infected chickens in Kelantan. Health Minister Dr S. Subramaniam said the situation was under control by the Kelantan DVS and that all avian species within a 2km radius were being culled to ensure that the disease does not spread. Subramaniam said the source of the H5N1 infection was still being investigated. The Kelantan state government Wednesday confirmed avian flu cases through samples taken from dead birds in local residence of Kampung Pulau Tebu, on Monday. The state DVS acted immediately by culling 170 birds, including kampung chickens, guinea fowls, geese, ducks, birds, commercial chickens and 100 eggs from the village. --BERNAMA