Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
Cambodia seeks more village vets to fight bird flu
PHNOM PENH, May 15 (Reuters) - Cambodia needs an additional 5,300 "village vets" to help wage a public information campaign against bird flu, a senior government official said on Monday. More than 6,400 veterinary volunteers have been hired since February under a foreign-sponsored programme to boost surveillance in six "high risk" provinces bordering Vietnam. But public understanding of the H5N1 virus, which has killed six Cambodians since it re-emerged in Asia in late 2003, remains low and resources are stretched despite more foreign aid.
"Villagers need to be told how to raise their poultry separate from others animals and not close to home," Nou Muth, a spokesman for the government's bird flu coordinator, told Reuters. "We need another 5,300 local vets to work with farmers and report to us when their poultry is sick or dies," he said. Bird flu persists in five Cambodian provinces on or near the border with Vietnam, the Asian country hardest hit by the virus which has killed 115 people worldwide since 2003. Prime Minister Hun Sen has blamed the lack of public education for the deaths of six Cambodians, most them children, from bird flu.
At a donor conference in Beijing in January, Cambodia sought $32.5 million in foreign aid to battle the disease over the next three years. Nou Muth said funding had started to trickle in, including $3 million from Germany to train 3,000 veterinary volunteers and buy supplies for surveillance teams. Japan donated $1.5 million to the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, to help promote awareness of bird flu, especially among children.
more at ... http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK306927.htm
PHNOM PENH, May 15 (Reuters) - Cambodia needs an additional 5,300 "village vets" to help wage a public information campaign against bird flu, a senior government official said on Monday. More than 6,400 veterinary volunteers have been hired since February under a foreign-sponsored programme to boost surveillance in six "high risk" provinces bordering Vietnam. But public understanding of the H5N1 virus, which has killed six Cambodians since it re-emerged in Asia in late 2003, remains low and resources are stretched despite more foreign aid.
"Villagers need to be told how to raise their poultry separate from others animals and not close to home," Nou Muth, a spokesman for the government's bird flu coordinator, told Reuters. "We need another 5,300 local vets to work with farmers and report to us when their poultry is sick or dies," he said. Bird flu persists in five Cambodian provinces on or near the border with Vietnam, the Asian country hardest hit by the virus which has killed 115 people worldwide since 2003. Prime Minister Hun Sen has blamed the lack of public education for the deaths of six Cambodians, most them children, from bird flu.
At a donor conference in Beijing in January, Cambodia sought $32.5 million in foreign aid to battle the disease over the next three years. Nou Muth said funding had started to trickle in, including $3 million from Germany to train 3,000 veterinary volunteers and buy supplies for surveillance teams. Japan donated $1.5 million to the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, to help promote awareness of bird flu, especially among children.
more at ... http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK306927.htm