The virus which infected two chickens in a village in north state of Kelantan is the pathogenic H5N1 strain, the Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry confirmed Thursday.

The ministry's secretary-general Abi Musa Asa'ari Mohamed Nor told a press conference here that the outbreak in Baru Pasir Pekan Village was an isolated case.

"Only two of the 103 chicken and ducks bred by the villagers have been infected with the bird flu virus, of the H5N1 strain."

"However, we have taken the decision to cull all the chickens today itself," he said.

Abi Musa Asa'ari said that the outbreak was expected to be curbed within three weeks.

Asked whether a ban has been imposed on chicken export from thecountry, he said that it would be left to the importing countries to decide.

"The decision is up to the importing countries. We have told them that we are containing the case. Just hope the importing countries will not ban."

"If the countries are willing to accept (the chickens), we willgo on," he said.

Abi Musa Asa'ari said that the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has been informed of the case and AVAhas decided to ban for a while the importation of Malaysian chickens.

Singapore has banned imports of poultry and poultry products from Malaysia with immediate effect after a strain of avian influenza has been detected in the Malaysian village near the Thai-Malaysia border.

Malaysia exports about 130,000 chickens and two million eggs to Singapore every day from its various farms.

Abi Musa Asa'ari also said that following the outbreak, the Veterinary Service Department had advised exporting farms to deferthe dispatch of their consignments.

This was to prevent a glut in the event that the consignments were refused entry into the importing countries, he said.

He said the ministry was taking all the necessary precautions to contain the outbreak in the village.

The village is some 100 kilometers south of Narathiwat, southern Thailand, where bird flu cases were reported in February and July this year. Narathiwat and Baru Pasir Pekan Village are connected by both river and road.

The epidemic had caused great damage to Thailand's poultry industry, which suffered no less than 880 million US dollars loss in the first outbreak of bird flu lasting from February to May.

Source: Xinhua