Malaysia yesterday suspended all imports of US poultry following reports that chickens in the US state of Delaware were found infected with bird flu.

"The agriculture minister Muhyiddin Yassin has ordered an immediate import ban of US poultry," Hawari Hussein, director-general of the Veterinary Services department told AFP .

About 12,000 chickens were destroyed in the northeastern US state of Delaware on a farm that raises chickens to sell at live markets in New York.

Hawari said local poultry breeders usually import day-old chicks from the United States to breed.

Hawari said the ban was a precautionary measure, adding that Malaysia was free of the deadly bird flu that was spreading across Asia.

Thirteen dead

In human terms, Vietnam, where 13 people have died, is the worst affected of the 10 Asian nations tackling outbreaks of bird flu. Thailand, where five people have died, is the only other country to have confirmed human infections.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Mohamad Shariff last month admitted that the threat of an outbreak was "very high" as neighbouring Thailand and Indonesia had been affected.

Mohamad said the annual value of Malaysia's poultry industry was about RM3.6 billion. There are some 3,207 farms in the country.

Malaysia has banned the import of chicken products from all affected countries and stepped up security at the northern Malaysia-Thailand border to prevent the smuggling of chickens. - AFP