Vietnam on alert as bird flu hits seven provinces
January 16, 2007 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
In what is becoming a “complicated and alarming” situation, seven southern Vietnamese provinces were struck by bird flu at an alarming rate in just over a month.
About 800 ducks in the Tra Vinh province died from the H5N1 virulent strain of bird flu, just as 130 ducks were being culled in Soc Trang for the same reasons. Other affected areas include the southern provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Hau Giang, Kien Giang, Vinh Long, where thousands of ducks and chickens were slaughtered and 5.8 million poultry were vaccinated in the last two months. Surveillance in roadways and waterway checkpoints have also been strengthened. New breeding of poultry flocks are temporarily forbidden, and re-education of new breeding methods are being taught – all in a desperate effort to control the outbreaks.
Even the World Health Organization and the UN FAO already sent in expert teams to assess the situation.
Despite Vietnam’s nationwide poultry vaccination campaign and strong political will to root out the virus, what went wrong?
Vietnam News Agency says it’s the illegal slaughter houses and transport of unquarantined poultry products.
Sources:
Bird flu hits sevent Vietnam province
Mekong Delta’s bird flu cases force urgent action
Tags: Vietnam, bird flu, outbreaks, H5N1, Mekong Delta, provinces, flu, avian influenza
