I have to agree with the commenter who questioned Malaysia's unseemly haste in seeking a clean bill of health from WHO. Here's how The Star Online is reporting it: Move for bird flu-free status in two weeks. Excerpt:
If there are no more cases of the H5N1 virus in two weeks, Malaysia will submit a report to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and seek its approval to declare the country free of the avian flu.
“However, it is still up to WHO to process the report and scrutinise the findings before we can be truly considered H5N1 virus-free,” said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.
He said the avian flu threat in Kampung Paya Jaras Hilir near here might have passed but the Government was taking no chances.
The ministry would continue to monitor the area, he told a press conference after opening the Malaysian Dental Association's annual general meeting yesterday.
The minister said there had been no reports in the past two days of residents falling ill or showing symptoms of cough or fever.
“This is definitely a very good sign. We will continue to monitor the area, especially within a 300m radius of the point of the virus’ origin,” he added.
“But in the meantime, all culling and case detection activities (door-to-door interviewing) have stopped.”
I don't recall the normal flu-free period required (I think it's three weeks but I may be wrong), but it still seems a bit premature to stop culling and case detection. And 300 meters (about 1000 feet) seems like an awfully tight focus for monitoring. Thirty kilometers (about 19 miles) would be more like it.
