June 30, 2005

Vietnam to vaccinate poultry against bird flu in August
 

The Vietnamese government recently announced that nationwide poultry vaccinations would be carried out against bird flu starting August 1.

Vaccination areas would include commercial poultry operations and smaller household farms in the northern Nam Dinh province and southern Tien Giang province in the Mekong Delta.

Another 40 high-risk provinces would also come under the vaccination program in the next two years while an initial 20 million doses of vaccines would be imported from the Netherlands and China.

The two-year poultry vaccination program would cost US$35 million, with the government subsidising US$29 million and the rest coming from fees charged to large commercial operators. Household farmers would get their chickens vaccinated for free.

The Vietnamese government has ordered that all ducks and other waterfowl be culled if they test positive for bird flu. However, the government estimated that only 10 percent of infected waterfowl have been culled as farmers were reluctant to slaughter their poultry in view of low compensation.

In response, the government recently announced the existing compensation to be tripled, hoping that an estimated 10 million waterfowl would be culled in the coming months.