August 9, 2006

Vietnam's Prime Minister urges vigilance against bird flu

Vietnam's prime minister Tuesday (Aug 8) called for stepped-up efforts to fight bird flu amid fears of a flare-up after the virus resurfaced elsewhere in the region, state-controlled media reported.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged government agencies to "continue to tighten control of transportation and trade of poultry, strictly deal with smuggling of poultry and re-establish poultry checkpoints," the official Vietnam News Agency reported.

The warning comes after Thailand on Saturday reported its second human death this year. Neighbouring Laos also recently reported a fresh poultry outbreak.

Vietnam has not reported any human infections in nearly nine months and no poultry outbreaks this year. Dung warned that "the dangers of bird flu recurrence remain very high because of large-scale outbreaks reported in many countries in the world, particularly in countries which share land borders with our country."

Dung also said increased complacency among the public and government officials increases the risk and urged state-controlled media to help raise awareness about the dangers of bird flu.