November 2, 2006

Vaccination programme keeps new bird flu strain out of Vietnam

Vietnam's poultry vaccination programmes have prevented the Fujian-like virus, China's dominant strain of bird flu, from entering the country, a Vietnamese health official at a conference on virus control said Wednesday (Nov 1).  

Over 100 million poultry inoculated under a government programme in Vietnam were still immune to the disease, Trinh Quan Huan, deputy minister of the Health Ministry, told local media. 

The new "Fujian-like virus", first discovered in China's southern Fujian province in March 2005, has spread to Thailand, Laos and Malaysia, according to researchers.

A partnership called Green Book was set up among various institutions to support Vietnam's programme for bird flu control. So far, the project has received over US$60 million of the US$250 million required, the government is expected to pay half of the cost.

The government has so far allocated about US$100 million for disease outbreaks.

Researchers said the new virus had already started a new wave of infections in Southeast Asia and might spread further due to its resistance to current vaccines.