October 3, 2005

Vietnam postpones poultry vaccination against bird flu
 

Vietnam¡¯s government said it has delayed the third round of poultry vaccination against bird flu until early October this year, due to insufficient vaccines.

The government said vaccines had to be imported and arrived in batches of five to seven million doses, which meant sufficient supplies were not ensured in a short period.

Vietnam needed to import about 380 million doses of vaccines from China and the Netherlands to immunise 260 million birds. The mass vaccination programme was due to end in November this year. Vietnam¡¯s total vaccination cost was estimated at VND750 billion, according to reports.

Vaccinations have already been carried out in 28 cities and provinces and nearly 28 million birds have been inoculated, reports said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have prepared a national action plan to fight a potential outbreak during the cold season between December and March.

The plan has been submitted to the government for approval and would be implemented nationwide if approved.

More than VND778 million (about US$49,109) has been set aside for medical staff training, supervision and early diagnosis of the H5N1 virus strain in provinces conducting vaccination programmes.

Meanwhile, two more research laboratories would be built at the Central Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi and the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City to investigate suspected cases.