May 25, 2007

 

Bird flu hits another province in Southern Vietnam

 

 

The Veterinary Department of Vietnam has declared another bird flu casualty in the province of Dong Thap, stressing that the epidemic has again started to spread countrywide.

 

The department reported that over 1,600 of the total 2,600 ducks owned by a family in Ma Quy commune, Thap Muoi district died from the H5N1 virus.

 

In the north, bird flu has also been reported in Tan Lap village, Tan Viet commune, Dong Trieu district, Quang Ninh Province.

 

Bird flu, this month, has attacked 15 communes in 12 districts of six provinces, including Nam Dinh, Son La and Quang Ninh in the north, Nghe An in the central region, and Can Tho and Dong Thap in the south.

 

The number of affected fowls is over 5,500 heads, mainly ducks and geese, of the total 19,300 heads. All of the poultry has been culled.

 

The department has already dispatched help to provinces that are facing high risks of bird flu. 

 

Experts have been alarmed of the epidemic's returns without apparent patterns. Normally this disease appears during the cold and wet weather but this year it occurred during summer, which stirs worries of the change of the H5N1 virus in Vietnam.

 

However, the department's vice head Hoang Van Nam said that a month's methodical research is needed is necessary to confirm whether the virus has changed or not.

 

In December 2006, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sent some samples abroad for testing which showed that H5N1 virus has not changed.

 

The vaccine that Vietnam is using is still similar to H5N1 virus in the country.

 

Nam stressed that re-outbreak of the disease in Vietnam this time is likely due to neglect of local governments and people.