Vietnam Endeavours to Combat Bird Flu

Vietnam Endeavours to Combat Bird Flu

Vietnam Endeavours to Combat Bird Flu Vietnam is maintaining closer surveillance on situations of poultry breeding and trading nationwide, and beefing up international cooperation to cope with the current outbreak of bird flu, which is subsiding in nine localities, and by February 16, no new affected areas were detected in their territories for at least 21 days.

"We expect that bird flu will be contained by March at the latest, because the government and localities around the country are combating it more and more fiercely," Bui Quang Anh, Director of Vietnam's Department of Animal Health, said, noting that the government in early February asked cities and provinces to temporarily cease breeding waterfowls, including ducks and geese.

By February 16, Ho Chi Minh City and the eight provinces of Quang Binh, Thai Nguyen, Ha Nam, Binh Phuoc, Kien Giang, Ninh Thuan, Ninh Binh and Lam Dong were eligible for announcing an end to bird flu, he said. Bird flu has hit 35 localities since January, either killing or leading the forced culling of more than 1.5 million poultry.

On February 3, the government instructed localities nationwide to temporarily stop the
incubation of poultry eggs, the production of young fowls and the additional breeding of waterfowls and quails. On February 4, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development clarified that the temporary ceasing would be applied from February 9 and June 30.
 
In response to the government's instruction, the authorities of Ho Chi Minh City have decided to slaughter all poultry being raised in its territory by December 31. Earlier, they decided to cease breeding poultry, including fighting cocks, in the city's urban districts from February 6, and to halt the breeding of ducks city-wide for one year, after turning live ducks into frozen meat and culling ones infected with bird flu viruses.

The municipal authorities have also demanded other localities to strictly follow quarantine procedures before semi-processed fowl meat and eggs from their territories are
carried to Ho Chi Minh City. The products must be packed and transported by special-use automobiles.

As early as pre-Tet (Lunar New Year Festival) period, localities in general and veterinary forces in particular made closer surveillance on areas formerly hit by bird flu, poultry farms, markets and slaughterhouses. The local veterinarian forces nationwide, in early January, resumed a 24-hour operation to monitor transport and trade of fowls and their eggs, which was applied in early 2004 when bird flu was at peak period in Vietnam.

Under the operation, local veterinarian cadres went directly to wards and hamlets to monitor fowl flocks, so that the department could have updated report son new outbreaks and the numbers of affected and culled poultry on a daily basis. Many localities set up hotlines to get latest news on bird flu situations, and established quarantine checkpoints to monitor the transport of poultry and eggs. To date, the capital city of Hanoi has retained the operation of 50 checkpoints.

To encourage local people to actively report new outbreaks and prevent raisers from not selling their affected fowl, some provinces have offered cash rewards to informers and offered greater financial assistance to farmers. The northern province of Ha Tay has presented VND50,000-100,000 (US$3.2-6.4 ) to each informer, while the southern province of Tien Giang has presented VND15,000 (nearly US$1) for each fowl culled, instead of VND5,000 (US$0.3) as it did previously.

Vietnam will vaccinate poultry to prevent potential bird flu outbreaks after doing that on a
pilot basis in February. "We will use vaccination against bird flu on a pilot basis at
two chicken farms after Tet. The vaccines are imported from China and the Netherlands," Anh said, noting that the country will start first trial vaccinations on 1,000-2,000 chickens.

The National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute and Pasteur institutes are probing into epidemiological factors more deeply for effective bird flu vaccines. The institute has used vaccines it developed on mice and is testing on monkeys in February for one month and a half and then on humans for two months.

Vietnam has also intensified information via mass media about the danger of bird flu virus H5N1 jumping from poultry to humans. Local people have been repeatedly urged not to have direct contact with fowl, and keep fit. People with symptoms of fever, cough, difficult breathing and exhaustion have been advised to be hospitalised.
To date, Vietnam has had to face three outbreaks of bird flu in humans, killing 32 local people. In the first outbreak, lasting from December 26, 2003 to March 10, 2004, a total of 23 persons contracted H5N1, of whom 16 died. In the second outbreak from July 19, 2004 to Aug. 26, 2004, four people were infected with the virus, and all of them passed away.
In the third outbreak starting from Dec. 16, 2004, Vietnam has detected 17 local people as having contracted H5N1, of whom 12 have died, and five have been discharged from hospitals. It has also found that a 25-year-old Cambodian woman, who died in late January after being admitted to a Vietnamese hospital, had been infected with the virus. 

Now, Vietnam is seeking international assistance regarding bird flu. A small group of experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) will arrive in the country in late February to research into H5N1 and the production of vaccines for humans, said Vietnam's National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute. The institute said no new bird flu patients have been detected for more than three weeks.

On February 23-25, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) will hold an international seminar on bird flu in Ho Chi Minh. "We will inform delegates about the current bird flu situation in Vietnam. Via the seminar, we hope to receive technical assistance and relevant experience from the international community," Anh said. Vietnam has had close cooperation with Thailand on exchanging anti-bird flu experiences, he said, noting his country is ready to help Laos and Cambodia on the issue.

• Dong Phong