May 12, 2014
Bird flu epidemic may return to Vietnam
Bird flu epidemic may return to Vietnam
Although the epidemic has been controlled, the head of the Vietnam animal health department warned that the epidemic may recur later this year in a number of high risk areas.
The animal health agency in Vietnam said that from the beginning of the year, bird flu has appeared in 90 communes and districts of 33 provinces and cities. Of over 200,000 infected poultry, half of them are dead.
According to Pham Van Dong, the agency's director, compared with the first half of last year, both the geographical area affected by bird flu and the level of danger have increased. The number of communes with bird flu grew nearly five-fold and the volume of poultry culled rose by a factor of 3.4.
The disease appears to be scattered throughout the provinces of Vietnam, but it is focussed more in the south and the southern part of the central region. It is infecting mainly ducks and chickens, with some quails also been infected.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam asked local governments to continue preventive methods against bird flu at the grassroots level.
Bird flu outbreaks are influenced by adverse and unusual weather in Vietnam this year, such as frost in the northern provinces or unusually cold weather in the south, which reduces the resistance of poultry. In addition, the transportation of poultry for slaughter before the Tet holiday was also a factor leading to the outbreaks.
Besides poultry, as reported by the veterinary health department, in the first quarter of this year over 2,000 cattle in 48 locations in 10 provinces were affected by foot and mouth epidemic. By May 5, the three provinces of Ha Tinh, Yen Bai and Kon Tum were still affected by foot and mouth epidemic.
In addition, a number of other diseases in cattle, including rabies, cholera, haemorrhagic septicaemia, and paratyphoid have also appeared scattered in many places.
