KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (AFP) - Three children from a village hit by the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain have been admitted to hospital for medical checks after coming down with flu-like symptoms, a senior medical official said Sunday.
Kelantan health chief Ahmad Razin Ahmad Mahir said the children were aged between two and five. Their mother, Zarina Mohamad, is a veterinary doctor who was admitted to hospital on Saturday.
All four are being kept in an isolated ward awaiting the results of blood tests, he said.
Earlier, Ahmad said three other people from the same village were discharged after blood taken from them tested negative for the virus.
The government announced Thursday that the H5N1 strain of avian influenza had been discovered in chickens in the village of Baru Pasir Pekan. It is the first outbreak of the disease in Malaysia.
The affected village is close to the border with Thailand where eight people have died of bird flu this year. The disease has also killed 19 people in Vietnam.
The World Health Organisation fears the virus could mutate into a highly contagious form that triggers the next human flu pandemic.
Malaysian Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said Saturday the deadly bird flu was restricted to the village in Kelantan where the only confirmed cases were in chickens while a top veterinary official said the culling of birds in the area had been completed.
Agriculture minister Muhyidden Yassin was quoted by the Sunday Star newspaper as saying that authorities believe the two affected birds, local roosters used for cock fighting, had recently been taken into Thailand for a fight.
The outbreak has led to several countries, including Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong banning the import of Malaysian poultry in a blow to the local industry.
Singapore alone imports 130,000 live chickens, 20,000 ducks and millions of eggs a day from Malaysia.