August 30, 2006

 

Vietnam to impose temporary ban on duck hatching

 

 

Vietnam's government has banned the hatching of live ducks after two out of five ducks taken randomly out of a market tested positive for bird flu, officials said Wednesday ( Aug 30).

 

Two random samples recently tested positive for bird flu in specimens taken from five ducks in a market on the outskirts of Hanoi, said Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of the Animal Health Department.

 

Waterfowls have been a major concern in Vietnam because they can be infected with the H5N1 virus without showing symptoms.

 

To help reduce the infection, Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat has ordered that all ducks hatched before Friday must be raised in fenced farms and given bird flu vaccine, Nam said. Those hatched after Friday must be destroyed.

 

Last year, the government imposed a similar ban on hatching and raising waterfowl, but farmers largely ignored it. It is unclear how the government would enforce the order this time.

 

Nguyen Dang Vang, director of the Breeding Department said there are 220 million poultry in Vietnam as of April, including 50 million ducks and 8 million geese.

 

The duck population supposedly increased sharply over the past two months as farmers in the southern Mekong Delta, the country's main duck producer, hatched more ducks to eat rice leftover from the paddy harvest, Vang said.

 

Officials are also worried about geese being a source of new flare-ups because there is currently no vaccine available for them.

 

Vietnam had not reported any outbreaks in poultry this year until the virus was detected through random testing in a handful of poultry in southern Ben Tre province earlier this month.

 

The country remains on high alert following a bird flu resurgence in neighboring China, Laos and Cambodia.

 

Local media have reported that authorities confiscated more than 70 tonnes of chickens smuggled in from China so far this year. Far more chicken crossed the border undetected.