October 27, 2004

More Poultry Deaths Registered in Vietnam

1,500 live ducks have been culled in Vietnam's southern province of Tien Giang. This move follows the discovery of 500 dead fowls in the flock on Sunday.

Tests for bird flu viruses in the affected ducks are currently ongoing, but results are not out as yet.

To prevent the spread of bird flu, Tien Giang has intensified the quarantine of imported fowls. Local farmers have also been asked not to recover flocks which have been hit by the disease.

The province, one of four southern localities suffering from the resurgence of bird flu, discovered some 3,000 chickens infected with the disease early this month.

Between Sept. 28 and Oct. 19, bird flu affected 6,590 chickens, 750 ducks and 2,000 quails in six communes in the provinces of Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre and Soc Trang, according to the Department of Animal Health.

In late March, Vietnam declared an end to bird flu that had killed 17 percent of its poultry population.

A total of 43.2 million fowls nationwide either died or were culled, causing direct losses of 1.3 trillion Vietnamese dong (82.8 million US dollars) to the local poultry industry.