November 16, 2005

 

China and Vietnam to boost anti-bird flu measures
 

 

Two of the countries hardest hit by bird flu announced extreme measures to fight the disease Tuesday, with China promising to vaccinate its entire poultry stock of 14 billion birds and Vietnam launching a campaign to purge its two largest cities of poultry.

 

Youling, chief veterinary officer in China's Agriculture Ministry, said China is in the process of vaccinating all poultry in the country. He said the government will pay all fees involved, but he did not provide any details of how officials would carry out the vaccinations.

 

It was unclear if the birds were being vaccinated against the virulent H5N1 bird flu strain that has ravaged poultry stocks across Asia and killed at least 64 people since 2003.

 

China has more than 14 billion farm poultry, accounting for nearly 21 percent of the world's total. Millions of birds have already been vaccinated in the country because of previous outbreaks.

 

The announcement came as China confirmed two new outbreaks of the bird flu. More than 6,500 chickens were found infected in Urumqi and Zepu counties in the north-west Xinjiang region on Nov 9, and more than 2,700 have died, said Roy Wadia, a WHO spokesman in Beijing, citing the Agriculture Ministry.

 

While China has not reported a human case of the disease, experts warned that it is inevitable if the government cannot stop repeated outbreaks in poultry. Eleven poultry outbreaks have been reported in the country in the past month.

 

China "still faces some problems in bird flu prevention and control system, especially at the grassroots level," Jia said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. "China has a lot of backyard-bred poultry. Some farmers pay no attention to the disease."

 

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, government officials in Ho Chi Minh City and the capital Hanoi have warned farmers to kill or sell all poultry by Monday. They will be compensated at half the current market value if they act now, but birds found alive after the deadline will be destroyed with no compensation, officials said.

 

"We hope that clearing out live poultry in the city will help minimise the chances of people getting sick from bird flu," said Huynh Hu Loi, director of Ho Chi Minh City's animal health department. "A pandemic can happen anytime. We are doing all we can."

 

The campaign is one of the most extreme measures taken in the communist country to try to slow the H5N1 virus. Vietnam has experienced a surge in poultry outbreaks over the past few weeks. The latest human death was reported last week.

 

On Tuesday, China said it would also ship 45 tonnes of bird flu vaccine to Vietnam.

 

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has encouraged countries to vaccinate birds while practicing other control methods, such as mass slaughtering and the controlled movement of poultry in and around infected areas.