February 12, 2004

WHO Says Vietnam Bird Flu Not Contained

Pascale Brudon, the World Health Organization representative in Hanoi, said it remains far too early to say that the bird flu outbreak in Vietnam has been contained. 
  

"We don't think the outbreak has been contained in poultry here," she said. "We still have a large number of outbreaks. We still have human cases every day. We're making progress but it still hasn't been contained."

Anh made his comments Wednesday at a news conference at which the European Union announced a EUR1 million donation to Vietnam for the purchase of protective gear for some 15,000 workers involved in culling poultry, as well as for laboratory and hospital equipment.

Vietnam has called for assistance from the international donor community in combatting bird flu. China announced a US$100,000 donation on Tuesday, while the U.S. has given US$250,000 to the World Health Organization to fight the epidemic regionally.

The avian influenza sweeping through poultry farms across 10 Asian nations has forced the mass slaughter of tens of millions of chickens and ducks. The virus has jumped to people only in Vietnam and Thailand.

Government officials in Vietnam have been forced to cull more than 30 million poultry in a bid to check the disease - more than 10% of Vietnam's entire poultry stock. However, many farmers have been reluctant to destroy their healthy chickens because of inadequate compensation.

Vietnam has said it will give farmers 5,000 dong ($1=VND15,660) for each chicken, along with paying the related costs of culling the birds. However, farmers have complained that the amount is only a fraction of a chicken's market value of VND30,000-VND50,000.

International donors are currently discussing ways to help Vietnam address the compensation issue, said Markus Cornaro, head of the European Commission in Hanoi.