April 4, 2007

China delivers bird flu vaccine to Vietnam

China recently exported some 48 tonnes of bird flu vaccine to Vietnam. These vaccines were flown in separate batches by China's Southern Airlines to the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi and to the southern city of Ho Chi Minh, between March 15 and March 26.

Vaccines for the H5N1, H5N2 and other sub-strains of the highly pathogenic Asian strains were included in this recent dispatch. These vaccines were manufactured by Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, a subdivision of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Currently, the institute is the only one in China that produces vaccines for the H5 bird flu strains.

Since 2003, bird flu vaccines produced by the institute has been seeing rising demand, both in China as well as from countries in South-east Asia. When a massive bird flu outbreak occurred in 2005, Vietnam also received significant supplies of bird flu vaccines from China.