January 15, 2007

Bird flu continues to spread in southern Vietnam

Vietnam confirmed a bird flu outbreak among poultry in another province in southern Vietnam Sunday (Jan 14), the third infected in a week, as the virus shows no sign of slowing down.

Some 350 ducklings died at a farm in Tra Vinh province last week, and test results showed they were infected with the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu, said Le Tuyet Hong, director of provincial department of animal health.

Authorities have slaughtered 850 other ducklings at the farm and have disinfected it and the surrounding areas, she said, adding the ducklings had not been vaccinated.

Earlier this week, bird flu outbreaks were reported in two other southern Mekong Delta provinces, Kien Giang and Vinh Long.

Over the past month, six provinces in the Delta have reported outbreaks, killing or forcing the slaughter of more than 30,000 birds.