March 10, 2014

 

Vietnam's Mekong Delta confirms bird flu virus mutation

 

 

Vietnam's Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh has confirmed vaccine-resistant mutation of H5N1 bird flu virus strain, while vaccinated fowls fell sick in central Vietnam.

 

Ngo Duc Thanh, director of Tra Vinh animal health department, said the kinds of vaccine that have been used for many years showed weaker effects this year. He said most samples from sick poultry would be tested for a new mutation. He asked farmers to inject their livestock with a new kind of vaccine that is also available.

 

Animal health officials from the central province of Quang Nam last week noticed that a local herd of 1,000 ducks have fallen sick and five of six samples tested positive for H5N1 although they were vaccinated a month earlier.

 

Despite vaccination, vaccinated poultry from the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho were also infected earlier. Officials said the vaccine could have been ineffective to a virus mutation, or the vaccination process faulty.

 

On March 5, the health and agriculture ministries said there were 69 H5N1 bird flu outbreaks ravaging in 23 cities and provinces. An average of two new outbreaks have occurred every day since early February, killing more than 63,000 fowls.

 

Two outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have hit village poultry flocks in southern Vietnam this week. The veterinary authority sent Follow Up Report No. 10 dated March 6 to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

 

The first outbreak started on March 3 in Binh Duong province. It affected 710 village poultry, of which 477 were affected, 300 died and 410 had to be destroyed.

 

The second outbreak was in Ninh Thuan province and was discovered on March 5. There 300 of a 500-bird village poultry flock died and the rest have been destroyed.

 

According to health ministry regulations, a city/province can declare the end of a bird flu epidemic if no infections are detected 21 days after the last outbreak was announced, removing Nam Dinh Province outside Hanoi and the Mekong Delta's Long An out of the list.

 

Hai Duong Province outside Hanoi, Gia Lai in the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta's Soc Trang Province announced new outbreaks on February 28, with more than 5,000 fowls disposed of.

 

Control teams have been set up by the health ministry and local authorities to keep track on the infection.

 

H5N1 has killed three people in the country this year, including Huynh Thanh Tuan, 30, of Nha Trang, a 52-year-old man from Binh Phuoc Province and a 60-year-old woman from Dong Thap Province, both in the south.

 

The strain has been ravaging Vietnam since 2003 and has claimed 65 lives so far, one of the highest fatality rates in the world, according to the World Health Organization.