January 23, 2007

Vietnam experts say bird flu vaccine may be ineffective against H5N1 
 
 
Animal health experts in Vietnam are worrying that the bird flu vaccine may not fully protect poultry from being infected with H5N1.
 
Hoang Van Nam, vice director of the Veterinary Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development told the Vietnam News Bridge that the defense mechanism of birds infused with the vaccine is lower than the theoretical 70 percent protection rate.

Nam said this is due to poor quality of vaccine and the inoculation process is ineffective.

According to the vice director, immunization procedure has been faulty as many birds have not been injected properly, thus, protection rate becomes low. Nam said chickens that are illegally bred have been responsible for much of the recent outbreak.

Nam stressed that if the birds are still H5N1 positive after two shots, the department would definitely re-check the vaccine's substance. 

Another concern that worries veterinarians is the mutation of the virus that becomes virulent against the vaccine. 

Nam said the virus' transformation during transmission can resist any medication and this could lead to more infection in the future if vaccines are not immediately modified. 

Vietnam is currently using the dead H5N2 microorganism vaccine for chickens and dead H5N1 microorganism vaccine for ducks. All were imported from China.

Department head Truong Van Dung however assured gene transmutation doesn't take place in dangerous areas, thus, no change will take place in the vaccination strategy in the country. The department has sent 14 virus samples abroad for analysis.

According to the statistics of the disease monitoring program, the protection rate in the first monitoring phase of 2006 was 50 to 66 percent in Binh Thuan and Lam Dong, lower than the standard 70 percent.