January 25, 2007

Bird flu eases out in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

Bird flu has remained under control in four out of eight affected provinces in Mekong Delta region as the one province reported no new outbreaks within the last 21 days.

The National Committee on Bird Flu Control had removed Tra Vinh province had from the list of infected areas.

The provinces of Kien Giang, Vinh Long, and Soc Trang are soon to be excluded on the bird flu hot spots after no new cases were reported for two weeks.

As of Jan 24, the disease was still prevalent in 39 communities in six provinces - Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Hau Giang, Vinh Long, Kien Giang, Soc Trang, and in Can Tho city.

The committee instructed infected provinces to strengthen surveillance over poultry vaccination, hatching of waterfowl, and free-range ducks.

The committee will also assign more task forces to the region to stamp out the epidemic before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.