The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) of Singapore announced in a statement Monday that it will implement bio-segregation and emergency vaccination of poultry in local farms to prevent a possible outbreak of bird flu here.

The bio-segregation measures, which include no sharing of equipment among local poultry farms and separating egg collection areas from production areas, would minimize inter-farm contact so as to prevent spread of bird flu virus if it were to be found in any of the farms.

Minister of State for National Development Heng Chee How said in Parliament Monday that Singapore's poultry farms can be grouped into five clusters, and effective bio-segregation and bio-security measures may save the poultry in unaffected clusters from being culled and ensure continued supply of eggs in the city state.

"Emergency vaccination will only be activated under critical circumstances, such as when rampant bird flu outbreaks occur in areas of close proximity to Singapore, or when there is an imminent threat of a human flu pandemic," the AVA statement said.

So far, no bird flu virus has been detected in the city state.

Source: Xinhua