February 1, 2005

Vietnam to halt poultry raising in bird flu-hit areas

Vietnam is instructing localities nationwide to temporarily cease the raising of poultry in bird flu-stricken areas, in a move to stop the spread of the disease, it was reported.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat has just asked bird flu-hit cities and provinces to halt the raising of fowls in communes or districts stricken by the disease, and to cease the development of waterfowls, mainly ducks, in unaffected areas. He has also urged local research institutes to vaccinate poultry on a trial basis.

Two major reasons are cited for the minister's decision: bird flu has so far this year spread to 32 cities and provinces nationwide, killing and leading to the forced culling of more than one million fowl, especially in the southern Mekong Delta. Also, many birds infected with the bird flu virus strain virus may still look healthy.

In response to the decision, the municipal authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have decided to halt duck raising in the city for one year, starting from early this month. The city will slaughter healthy ducks, subsequently freezing, and culling others infected with H5N1 by Feb. 7. Raisers are to receive financial assistance of 15,000 Vietnamese dong (VND), or nearly US$1, for each duck culled.

Regarding chickens, the municipal authorities have banned the raising of the fowls in the inner city. The city will keep closer surveillance on chicken farms, and offer interest-free loans to local companies so that they can turn live chickens into frozen meat.

The National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute (NHEI) and Pasteur institutes in Vietnam are researching into epidemiological factors more deeply for effective bird flu vaccines. The NHEI has used vaccines it developed on mice and will test on monkeys in February for one month and a half and then on humans for two months.

"We attach great importance to the effectiveness and safety of vaccination against bird flu, because bird flu is capable of attacking both fowl and humans," Bui Quang Anh, director of Vietnam's Animal Health Department said recently.

Altogether, 32 bird flu patients in Vietnam have died since the disease started hitting it in December 2003. The country, in late March 2004, declared an end to the bird flu that killed 17 percent of its fowl population, causing a total loss of 1.3 trillion VND (82.8 million dollars) to the local poultry industry.