Malaysia may be able to contain an outbreak of bird flu soon but other Southeast Asian countries may have to do a lot more work to rein in the virus, a senior poultry trade official said yesterday.
Malaysia said on Monday it was clear of any humans who have contracted the deadly virus, which has killed 27 people in Asia this year. The country was untouched by an earlier virus outbreak in the region.
The manner in which Malaysia handled the crisis offers an example for Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, the three countries hit by bird flu for the second time this year, said Margaret Say, regional director for Southeast Asia of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.
"We are confident that Malaysia will be able to control it soon," said Ms Say. "They are open about it. They took immediate steps. We don't see the situation worsening."
Malaysia killed hundreds of birds immediately after bird flu was discovered in a region close to the Thai border. Many countries have banned poultry purchases from Malaysia.
Ms Say said the outbreak could hit domestic demand of poultry. Some producers were cutting production and feed mills were limiting purchases of feed from overseas.
"In a situation where there is surplus production and nobody buys, prices are bound to go down," Ms Say said. Live bird prices in domestic Malaysian markets were down to about 2.50 ringgit a kilo from 3.20 ringgit earlier in the year.
Malaysia, with a population of 25 million, is one of the world's largest per-capita poultry consumers, with annual demand of about 31kg of chicken per person. It produces 1.1 million live fowls a day, 90 per cent of them for local consumption.
Asian nations such as Thailand were criticised this year for covering up the issue for a long time. Experts believe the earlier outbreak could have been controlled sooner if authorities had reported the cases immediately.
Ms Say, whose office has been holding food safety seminars in the region, said governments should monitor backyard farms more closely since they did not meet the food safety norms.
"That's one of the biggest problems in Vietnam and Indonesia," Ms Say said. "I think Vietnam will take a bit longer to bring the problem under control. Indonesia will also have to keep a close watch on movement of poultry between different regions."
Ms Say said some Southeast Asian countries would have to impose stricter curbs to prevent poultry moving between different provinces. "That should help in sealing off a region quickly when there are bird flu cases."
Ms Say said the Philippines, which has not yet reported a single bird flu case, may get a chance to sell some of its poultry overseas following a ban on Malaysian poultry.
"Some people may look to fill in the temporary shortage. The Philippines is free of the disease but it is not sitting idle. It is stepping up controls with every new case reported in the region."
The World Health Organisation fears the H5N1 virus could mutate into a highly contagious form which will trigger the next flu pandemic. Some health experts feel that Asia could witness a major winter outbreak.
But Ms Say said the current outbreak may not turn out to be as dire.
"The last one took everybody in this region by surprise. Nobody was prepared. This time, the basic tools to fight the virus are in place," she said. "That's the logic."