January 22, 2004

Bird Flu Outbreak Spread To 19 Provinces In Vietnam

Vietnam announced that bird flu outbreaks had been reported in 19 of its 64 provinces - 10 in the south and nine in the north.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said it is taking steps to develop a human vaccine because of "mounting concern" over the spread of the virus.

The WHO said laboratories in its flu network in Hong Kong and Japan who are seeking to develop a vaccine have isolated the virus from two people that died of bird flu in Vietnam.

"This is in response to a threat we see and a threat we're still trying to assess," said WHO spokesman Bob Dietz in Hanoi.

A prototype virus that manufacturers could use to produce a human vaccine would be ready in about a month, but testing of the vaccine could take "several months to several years" before it is ready for the general public, Dietz said.

In the meantime, Vietnam has been working with international agencies, including the WHO, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, to contain the spread of the epidemic.

Late Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued instructions to local authorities to step up inspections of poultry being transported. They also urged local government to deploy more manpower to reinforce veterinary departments charged with containing the flu's spread.

Officials admit the problem is made more difficult because of farmers' reluctance to destroy their healthy chickens at an economic loss. The government has so far offered to pay between 5,000 dong ($1=VND15,631) to VND15,000 for the chickens, although their value is two to three times that amount.

In provinces that haven't reported an outbreak, "it's rather difficult for us to control the sale of chickens on the market," Thong said.

Recognizing that issue, the Food and Agriculture Organization and Vietnamese authorities are discussing the possibility of financial aid to compensate farmers.