Vietnam has appealed for greater support and assistance from international organizations and foreign countries regarding the fight against bird flu, local newspaper Vietnam Agriculture reported Thursday.

At a meeting with representatives of international organizations and diplomatic corps in Hanoi capital on Wednesday, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung informed them about his country's emergency plan to cope with a potential bird flu epidemic among poultry and humans and its willingness to share up-to-date information about bird flu situations, calling for them to offer more relevant suggestions and financial and technical assistance.

Vietnam will strengthen its veterinary and healthcare systems, and intensify investment in bird flu research, although it has detected no new outbreak since late August. The country plans to vaccinate people against bird flu on a trial basis next year.

Up to 91 Vietnamese people have been infected with bird flu since the disease started to break out in the country in late 2003. Of them 41 have died.

To prevent possible bird flu outbreaks in the approaching winter, localities nationwide are facilitating the vaccination of poultry against bird flu viruses, including the deadly strain H5N1. To date, 28 cities and provinces nationwide have vaccinated 27.6 million fowls, including 16.9 million chickens.

Vietnam is also intensifying the detoxification and disinfection of fowl farms in localities nationwide, especially those having large flocks of chickens and ducks. Such northern provinces as Ha Tay, Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh plan to reestablish poultry quarantine checkpoints along main roads to monitor the transport of fowls among localities.

Source: Xinhua