The government has deployed "chicken guards" to prevent bird flu from entering Sabah by raising the alarm if the virus is introduced by migratory birds.

The "sentinel flock" is being housed in a specially built shed in the tourist destination of Kota Kinabalu, with openings to allow wild birds to mingle and share food with the poultry, the New Straits Times said.

Experts will monitor the chickens to see if they become infected, and then take measures to stop the avian influenza virus from spreading to domestic flocks.

"If any of the chickens get infected, we will immediately destroy all poultry within a five-kilometre radius," state agriculture minister Abdul Rahim Ismail told the daily.

Sabah state has had no cases of bird flu as yet, but because it borders the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, where the disease has been widespread among poultry, it must remain on high alert, he said.

Malaysia has banned imports of birds and eggs from countries affected by bird flu, including Indonesia, after a rash of outbreaks on the nation's peninsula emerged among poultry earlier this year.

There have been no human cases, however, and Malaysia declared itself free of the disease in June.