Don’t take matters into your own hands, bird owners and breeders warned
KOTA BARU: The state government has warned bird owners and breeders against taking matters into their own hands if their chicken and birds were infected by avian flu H5N1, including removing them from the affected areas.
State Agriculture, AgroBased Industry and Biotechnology Committee chairman Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi said their actions might cause the outbreak to get out of control.
“If they take the birds out of the affected area, the outbreak will spread further and the number of birds affected will grow,” he said at his office here yesterday.
Abdullah said some breeders had complained that the RM10 compensation by the government for a chicken was too little but, he added, they should remember that if the disease was not controlled, their losses would be bigger.
He said if the outbreak was stamped out, then the Veterinary Department could declare the state free from the disease and they could resume business.
On the spread of the disease, Abdullah said there was a possibility that it was caused by free-flying birds, but the authorities had no information about it at the moment.
Abdullah said up to Sunday, the outbreak was contained in 28 locations at six districts — Kota Baru, Bachok, Pasir Mas, Pasir Putih, Tanah Merah and Tumpat.
No new outbreak had been reported elsewhere.
He said 33,150 birds had been culled and 13,300 eggs destroyed.