January 27, 2004

 

 

Almost Half Of Vietnam's Provinces Affected By Bird Flu

 

Bird flu has spread to nearly half of Vietnam's provinces, killing or forcing the mass slaughter of 5.4 million chickens, government officials said Tuesday, as the country grapples to contain the virus' spread among poultry and people.

 

The avian flu has been reported in 28 of the country's 64 provinces, according to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Thirteen provinces in the north and 15 provinces in the south have been hit, though most of the poultry affected have been in two southern provinces near Ho Chi Minh City.

 

Vietnam is one of two countries where the fast-spreading disease has jumped to people, killing at least six here. An 8-year-old girl remains hospitalized in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's southern hub.

 

Two 6-year-old boys have died in Thailand.

 

Seven other Asian countries have reported the disease among their poultry stocks, fueling fears among international health officials that the virus could combine with human influenza, allow person-to-person transmission, and start a global pandemic.

 

The World Health Organization's regional director, Dr. Shigeru Omi, is in Hanoi for talks with Vietnamese officials on the avian influenza.

 

"It's an indicator of how serious the situation is," said WHO spokesman Bob Dietz.

Omi is meeting with Health Minister Tran Thi Trung Chien this morning and afternoon talks are scheduled with Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem on Vietnam's response to the bird flu so far as well as regional coordination issues.

 

"We see (Vietnam) as coping. We also know their resources are stretched thin. We'll talk about ways we can help. This is a challenging situation for any country, and a country like Vietnam is a place where we can offer a lot of assistance," said Dietz.

 

Vietnam is now focusing on workers slaughtering the chickens, who are at the biggest risk for infections. The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization has provided Vietnam with the first 150 sets of protective gear for culling the birds.

 

So far, there has been no evidence of human transmission. Health officials believe the disease is contracted through contact with sick chickens, though eating well-cooked meat and eggs is not believed to be a risk.

 

Vietnam has reported that 3.5 million chickens died or were killed around its affected provinces. In addition, another 1.9 million poultry were slaughtered in Ho Chi Minh City, where no outbreak was reported, over the past 10 days, as a preventative measure in the country's largest city, said Nguyen Van Thao, deputy director of the city's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

 

The WHO's Omi is on his way to an emergency regional meeting on bird flu in Bangkok Wednesday. Vietnam is sending a delegation headed by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Huy Ngo as well as officials from the Ministry of Health.