June 8, 2006

Vietnam's largest city to stop backyard poultry

Ho Chi Minh City authorities are calling on residents to stop raising backyard poultry from now through July next year to prevent bird flu from re-occurring.

The administration has also appealed to suburban residents to end free-range poultry-raising.

The city also plans to provide small-scale poultry traders with interest-free loans of VND15 million (US$940) each to buy refrigerators to help them meet the Sept 15 deadline after which traders without refrigerators must cease operations.

The most bird flu deaths have occurred in Vietnam, with 42 deaths from 93 confirmed cases, and Indonesia, with 37 deaths from 49 cases. However, there has been no new cases in Vietnam for the past six months and it has maintained tight surveillance over the flow of smuggled poultry from China, believed to be the cause of bird flu in its northern borders.