June 1, 2007 

Vietnam now has 16 bird-flu affected provinces

The province of Quang Nam in Vietnam's central region became the sixteenth area to succumb to bird flu, reports the Thanh Nien news daily.

In Vinh Nam village in Duy Xuyen district, 370 out of a flock of 400 ducklings in a household farm had been infected May 30 by the dreaded H5N1 strain, the province's veterinary bureau said.

The central Animal Health Department reported a day earlier that 115 ducks had died on a farm in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho which was positive of H5N1.

The infected flocks in Quang Nam and Can Tho were not vaccinated against bird flu as animal health workers slaughtered the remaining 685 birds.

The number of birds killed by the virus or slaughtered nationwide has risen to more than 50,000 this month.

The head of the National Steering Committee for Avian Influenza Prevention and Control instructed all local agencies Thursday (May 31) to keep an eye on rural farms and backyard poultry to head off possible bird flu outbreaks.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has called on the health ministry and the Standing Committee of the National Steering Committee for Avian Influenza Prevention and Control to adopt drastic measures to control the disease.

Local governments and concerned units have been asked to prepare and supply bird flu equipment to local agencies to prevent transmission to humans.

The health sector has been warned to remain vigilant when treating patients suspected to be infected with H5N1 by placing them in isolation wards.

On Wednesday (May 30) Minister of Agriculture Cao Duc Phat said the country is again on the brink of another bird flu epidemic in poultry after the H5N1 virus had spread rapidly in the past month.