August 11, 2006

Vietnam tightens bird flu check

Vietnam has culled 54 ducks in a southern province after tests showed two ducks were tested positive for bird flu, an official said Thursday (Aug 10).

This would be Vietnam's third bird flu case this year.

However, Mai Van Hiep, Director of the Animal Health Department in Ben Tre province, said this was not an outbreak as all other ducks were healthy.

The tests were conducted as part of bird flu surveillance following a vaccination campaign to protect poultry from the H5N1 virus, Hiep said. Wild birds, ducks and geese can carry H5N1 without showing symptoms.

Vietnam's second case for this year was discovered last week, when officials found 53 wild storks at a theme park in Ho Chi Minh City with the H5N1 strain. All were culled.

In April, chickens and ducks at three farms in the northern province of Cao Bang, bordering China, were found to be infected with the virus, leading to allegations that the bird flu virus was brought in by smugglers bringing in chickens from China.

Last week, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam could not afford to be complacent as it is surrounded by countries where fresh outbreaks have been reported, such as that in Laos and China.