The authorities launched a new poultry cull to control its latest bird flu outbreak yesterday but announced that a hospitalised veterinary worker was free of the disease.

"We are continuing with our efforts to cull chickens, ducks and birds in the affected areas where the new bird flu cases were found," Hawari Hussein, director-general of the Veterinary Department said in a statement, adding that 170 birds were killed on Sunday.

Malaysia announced new bird flu cases for the second time in five days on Saturday after eight birds died from the H5 strain of avian flu in three villages near the border with Thailand, which is also battling the disease, and just kilometres from Malaysia's previous outbreaks.

More tests were needed to determine whether the virus was of the H5N1 strain, which has killed 28 people in Asia this year including nine in Thailand. A Thai man who raised fighting cocks died of bird flu last week.

But Ramlee Rahmat, director of disease control at the Health Ministry, told AFP that the Malaysian veterinary worker had been cleared of bird flu.

"It is viral fever. Not bird flu virus. He has been moved out from the isolation ward to the normal ward," he said.

Hawari said there was a ban on imports of birds from Thailand and no birds can be taken out of the infected state, Kelantan.

However, he gave assurances that all birds and eggs sold in markets are safe for consumption, he said.

WHO expresses fears

The World Health Organisation has said it is more worried about bird flu than Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, warning a pandemic is likely to occur unless effective measures are taken.

China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia have reported bird flu outbreaks since July after an earlier crisis this year.

After the most recent outbreak on Sept 6, some 1,200 birds, chickens and ducks within a one kilometre radius of Belian village were killed immediately to curb the spread of the disease.

Belian is near Pasir Pekan where the H5N1 strain was discovered for the first time in Malaysia last month, leading to the culling of hundreds of thousands of birds and a nationwide inspection of poultry farms, businesses and bird parks.

The Federation of Lifestock Farmers Associations said the poultry industry was losing RM10 million daily after Singapore and other countries slapped import bans on Malaysia.