April 27, 2006

 

 

Vietnam risks getting bird flu from thousands of chickens smuggled in every day

 

 

Vietnam estimates that about 4,500 chickens are smuggled into the country every day from China in a trade that is nearly impossible to police because of scarce resources.

 

The smugglers easily evade patrols along the rugged 1,350-kilometre border by using two-way radios and a network of illegal crossings that have become gateways for a new threat - bird flu.

 

The H5N1 bird flu virus has recently shown up in samples taken from confiscated birds, raising the stakes in Vietnam's battle to shift from the hardest-hit country to one that has successfully contained the virus.

 

"I think there is a very large undercover, underground trade that is going on," said Dr Jeff Gilbert, an animal health expert at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Vietnam. "I think the biggest risk of re-infection (in Vietnam) is infection from China."

 

Many scientists believe much of the worldwide spread of H5N1 is linked to the migration of wild birds, but the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health says it is investigating the possible role smuggling has played in some countries.

 

Last year, Taiwan confirmed its first case of bird flu, which was found in birds smuggled from China.

 

FAO is recommending that governments worldwide pay more attention to the illegal trade of poultry, but said China is not specifically being looked at as a source. Chinese officials have not responded to queries about whether smuggling has occurred.

 

Vietnam's success in controlling bird flu has fuelled demand for poultry as more Vietnamese shed their fears of eating infected meat. That, in turn, has fuelled the smuggling.

 

Smuggled birds typically come from large Chinese farms where high volume and low feed prices keep overall costs low. The poultry can be resold in Vietnam for up to five times more, depending on the market.

 

For instance, older chickens that no longer lay eggs can be bought by smugglers for about VND14,000/kg (US$0.88/kg), and can end up in markets in Hanoi and other cities.

 

In the Vietnamese border town of Lang Son, such birds fetch VND37,000/kg (US$2.32) - still VND10,000 (US$0.62) cheaper than Vietnamese-farmed chicken, said Do Van Duoc, director of the Lang Son Department of Animal Health.

 

No outbreaks in Vietnam have been directly linked to smuggled poultry from China.