January 10, 2007
Bird flu outbreak continues to spread in southern Vietnam
Bird flu outbreaks among poultry continued in southern Vietnam and officials warned the disease could spread to the entire country, officials and state media reported Wednesday (Jan 10).
Kien Giang province became the latest southern province struck by the H5N1 bird flu virus, with nearly 2,000 ducks killed or slaughtered over the weekend, said Dinh Cong Than, director of the provincial department of animal health. The birds had not been vaccinated.
Last month, bird flu outbreaks were reported in the neighbouring provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang - the country's first reported outbreaks in a year, killing or forcing the slaughter of some 30,000 birds.
The biggest problem in preventing the virus from spreading is the failure to enforce the government ban of hatching and restocking ducks, Than said.
Vietnam imposed the duck ban a year ago, but most farmers ignored it. Some 50 million to 70 million ducks have been restocked since then, according to government figures.
Ducks are a worrisome problem as they can carry the virus without showing symptoms.
For farmers in the Mekong Delta, rice and ducks are their biggest sources of income, thus it would be very difficult to ban the practice, Than said.
Vietnam's authorities also does not have enough manpower to enforce the ban.
He said authorities on Tuesday seized nearly 1,000 ducks that were loaded on a boat en route from Bac Lieu to Kien Giang. The confiscated ducks were to be killed Wednesday, he said.
Speaking at a bird flu conference in Hanoi on Tuesday, Vice Agriculture Minister Bui Ba Bong said outbreaks could spread across the country in the coming weeks with cooler weather and the increased movement of poultry and people before next month's Lunar New Year festivities.
Authorities fear the epidemic is worsening and have warned that the risk of bird flu spreading to all Mekong Delta provinces within a month and to northern provinces in the next 45 days is very high.
