About 5,000 fowls die of bird flu in Vietnam

Bird flu has recurred in Vietnam, killing about 5,000 fowls in the country's southern Bac Lieu province, a local official told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"Tests conducted in the regional veterinary center in Ho Chi Minh City have confirmed that all of the fowls were tested positive for an H5 strain of bird flu," said Nguyen Phuc Tai, director of the veterinary department of Bac Lieu province.

The fowls from two farms and a household have suddenly died since June 25, he said, adding that the province has culled all of the infected fowls in an effort to contain the virus. Reasons for the bird flu's return in the locality have been studied, Tai said.

To deal with the current situation, Bac Lieu will reestablish a steering committee on bird flu, and intensify the disease inspection in all communes and control over transportation of fowls at the province's gates and main roads, he noted, adding that fowls traded in the local markets will be quarantined.

Besides, the province will inform the disease's situation on mass media and ask local people to report to relevant agencies when fowl deaths occur in their farms. Those who violate the regulation will be fined, Tai said.

In Bac Lieu province, which has a total poultry population of 1.4 million, nearly 900,000 fowls died or were culled during the bird flu outbreak earlier this year.

Vietnam, which was reported to face a high risk of the relapse of bird flu last week as 13 localities in the country still had avian influenza viruses, mainly in ducks, is strengthening activities to ensure hygiene in the localities and control the import of baby poultry, and overcome the consequences caused by the bird flu outbreak.

The government has just allowed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to conduct a project to urgently overcome the aftermath of the bird flu outbreak with a total capital of nearly 7.6 million US dollars.

In April, it decided to allocate 245.3 billion Vietnamese dong (VND) (15.6 million US dollars) to 57 localities, helping them prevent bird flu recurrence and revive the poultry industry.

In late March 2004, Vietnam declared an end to bird flu that killed 17 percent of its poultry population, and claimed 16 human lives since its outbreak last December. A total of 43.2 million fowls in 57 out of 64 localities nationwide either died or were culled, causing the local poultry industry to suffer direct losses of 1.3 trillion VND (82.8 million dollars).

Source: Xinhua