Five sailors were briefly hospitalized over the weekend after coming into contact with dead swallows on Layang-Layang, an island in the Spratly group. Initial tests conducted on the swallows showed no sign of H5N1, but a second round of inspections has been conducted to be sure.
Deputy Defense Minister Zainal Abidin Zain told tourists on Monday to stay away from the island, a popular diving destination, for the time being.
Layang-Layang lies within the disputed Spratly islands, more than 1,500km from Kelantan, and is closer to Vietnam. The Spratlys, believed to be rich in oil, are claimed by Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan.
The World Health Organization believes migratory birds like swallows are one of the main agents spreading the disease, which is fast becoming entrenched in parts of Asia.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia, smug-glers are turning to express buses to transport fighting cocks and skirt a quarantine aimed at stopping the spread of bird flu, authorities said.
Officers manning a checkpoint at the border of the flu-hit northern state of Kelantan found four fighting cocks in the luggage compartment of an express bus bound for Kuala Lumpur, veterinary officials said. No one came forward to claim the birds.
"We are concerned that some people take the quarantine order lightly and seem not to be worried by the risk of infection from the birds," Idris Kadir, Kelantan's state veterinary director, was quoted on Sunday as saying by the national news agency Bernama.
The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was discovered in Kelantan on Aug. 17 in fighting cocks smuggled from Thailand. More than 11,000 chickens, ducks and pet birds in a dozen villages where the strain has appeared have been gassed to contain the outbreak.
At least a dozen people in Kelantan have been hospitalized after showing flu-like symptoms, but all tested negative.
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