January 9, 2004

Vietnam PM Calls For Measures To Fight Chicken Epidemic

Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai yesterday requested that provinces and cities plagued by the chicken epidemic to increase preventive measures to curb the spread of the disease.

In an official telegram, the PM also asked local authorities to establish steering committees, carry out control measures, and monitor the transportation of poultry around-the-clock in a bid to prevent infected poultry from entering other localities.

The Prime Minister urged them to cull all dead and infected poultry and request market managers, veterinary and health services and police to intensify inspections on the issue.

The Prime Minister asked other provinces and cities to quarantine strictly those inbound poultry and cull infected poultry if discovered and quickly take steps to deal with the epidemic.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was also ordered to work with relevant ministries and even international organisations in defining the virus that caused the disease for developing effective preventive measures.

The Ministry will also have to work with localities to quarantine infected areas and carry out early measures to prevent the disease from spreading.