Malaysia today announced that the H5 strain of avian influenza had been found on a farm in Kelantan neighbouring Thailand, a top official said.

Hawari Hussein, director-general of the veterinary services told AFP that the potentially deadly H5 bird flu had been detected in a village near Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

Further testing was being done at University Putra Malaysia to determine whether the virus was N1 or N2 type, he said.

"If it is just H5 virus, it is not dangerous to humans, but if it is of N1 or N2, it can cause death," he said.

Hawari said the results would be known on Thursday.

All areas within a 10 kilometre radius of the village have been quarantined to ensure no poultry or birds are smuggled out but Hawari said local chicken remained safe for consumption.

Hawari said the bird flu case was discovered during a routine check by the department following reports that the virus had infected chicken in Narathiwat in neighbouring Thailand.

Narathiwat is about 100 kilometres from the affected village - Kampung Baru Pasir Pekan.

The department was waiting for test results on whether the virus, which infected chicken in the village, was similar to that which infected chicken in Thailand, Hawari added.

Singapore bans imports

Singapore had suspended all imports of poultry and poultry products from Malaysia after being informed about the H5 strain of avian influenza.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it had been informed by Malaysia's Department of Veterinary Services about the discovery in the Kelantan farm.

"To prevent the incursion of bird flu into Singapore, AVA has suspended the import of all poultry products from Malaysia with immediate effect," AVA said in a statement.

Singapore, a small but affluent island-nation with no farm sector, imports 120,000 live chickens and 20,000 live ducks daily from neighbouring Malaysia.

The city-state of four million people also sources two-thirds of its total egg consumption, or two million eggs daily, from Malaysia.

"For safety reasons, we don't want to see the disease spread so we take action to suspend the imports," Chua Sin Bin, deputy chief executive of the AVA told a news conference late Wednesday.

In a statement, the AVA urged the public not to resort to panic buying.