21 February 2006
Malaysia stepped up its defences against avian influenza on Tuesday, killing suspect poultry and sending health officials to track any human infections, after it reported its first case of H5N1 virus in more than a year.
No human cases have so far been reported in Malaysia, which had last reported the H5N1 virus in a chicken in the northern state of Kelantan on Nov. 22, 2004.
Announcing the new case on Monday, Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin called it an isolated event, and said that all 110 infected chickens had been destroyed.