Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

[Mingus]

<table style="width: 505px; height: 820px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td align="left" height="35" valign="top">http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=23762

Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat
</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" align="left" valign="top" width="100%"> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="20"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="2" align="left">

</td> <td align="left" width="5">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="cap" colspan="2" align="left">
</td> <td align="left" width="5">
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> About 73 percent of poultry samples came back positive for H5N1 virus in the central province of Quang Nam, reported an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Friday. </td></tr><tr> <td align="left" valign="top">

Hoang Van Nam, deputy head of the ministry?s Animal Health Department said the result had put the central region on red alert for bird flu outbreaks.​

The seasonal migration of birds and cool weather create a ripe environment for the virus to spread, especially as H5N1 has already been found in poultry, Nam warned.​

To date the disease has spread to 10 communes in six districts in three Mekong Delta provinces namely Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Hau Giang.​

Hau Giang?s animal health department said they had quarantined and sterilized infected sites to isolate the outbreak.​

Within the last several days in Bac Lieu, relevant agencies had slaughtered thousands of poultry and inoculated another 170,000 fowl.​

In Ca Mau and Soc Trang, six people were isolated with bird flu symptoms after eating chicken, and local health centers had taken their samples for tests.​

China crisis​

Ho Chi Minh City?s market control bureau said illegal poultry trade and transport had increased considerably with 106 cases, more than three-fold those from last week.​

In the northern province of Lang Son, poultry trafficking from China was exploding with hundreds of tons of fowl illegally transported into Vietnam daily, which local authorities could not fully control.​

Officials said poultry smuggling flared up because domestic fowl prices were rising while smuggled fowl from China was much cheaper.​

They added smugglers could benefit substantially from their business, especially in months ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday when fowl demand peaks.​

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung assigned 11 relevant ministers to be heads of bird flu control task forces in regions nationwide.​

Tran Thi Trung Chien, Health Minister launched Friday a nationwide campaign for January, urging people to sanitize the environment, especially in poultry breeding farms to control the outbreak.​

Under the campaign, localities were guided to keep surveillance on poultry trade and transport, especially at border check points.​

Local health centers were ordered to prepare medicines for the fight against avian influenza in humans in the event of an outbreak and increase food hygiene inspections.​

Since the virus first arrived in Vietnam in late 2003, it has killed 42 of the 93 people infected, second only to Indonesia's 57, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).​

WHO said the influenza had killed more than 150 people worldwide since late 2003, and prompted the slaughter of tens of millions of poultry. ​

Source: Tuoi Tre, Thanh Nien ? Translated by Tuong Nhi​

</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

After reviewing their vaccination efforts (see http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13235)

which was to be completed by the end of November where they vaccinated about 160 million fowl, how can 73% of tested fowl now have H5N1????

It would seem their vaccination program didn't work according to expectations, as I assume that 73% rate cannot be due entirely to smuggling.

.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=23810


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left height=35>Bird flu raging in Vietnam?s Mekong delta
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width="100%" colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=20 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left colSpan=2>

</TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR><TR><TD class=cap align=left colSpan=2></TD><TD align=left width=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>More poultry deaths and infected sites have been reported in Vietnam?s Hau Giang, Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces in the last two days. </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>

​

Nguyen Hien Trung, head of Hau Giang?s animal health department, said a new site had been identified in Vi Thuy district yesterday after a dead bird had tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus strain.

A total of three communes in two districts had bird flu, he said.

Luong Ngoc Lan, head of Bac Lieu?s department of agriculture and rural development, said more poultry deaths had been reported in Hong Dan, Hoa Binh, Vinh Loi, and Gia Rai districts on Sunday.

The dead birds had tested H5N1 positive in Hong Dan and Hoa Binh while results were awaited from the other two districts, Lan said.

In Ca Mau many poultry reportedly died Monday.

The peidemic has hit at least 13 districts in the three provinces, prompting the slaughter of tens of thousands of fowl. Four people in Bac Lieu and two in Soc Trang provinces have been hospitalized with bird flu symptoms.

Last week Vietnam launched a national anti-bird flu campaign to stamp out the epidemic.

The World Bank has approved a US$10 million grant for a program to combat bird flu.
At least 42 people have died of the H5N1 virus in Vietnam since 2003 with the latest case reported in November 2005.

The disease has killed 157 of the 261 people infected globally since 2003.
Source: Tuoi Tre, Nguoi Lao Dong ? Translated by Tuong Nhi​

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/01/649883/

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD class=tintop_title vAlign=top align=left>Bird flu hits 25 communes in Mekong Delta provinces</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news_date vAlign=top align=left height=20>08:05' 03/01/2007 (GMT+7) </TD></TR><TR><TD class=text vAlign=top align=left>Bird flu has to date stricken 25 communes in 11 districts in the southern provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang, resulting in the bury of nearly 24,000 poultry.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=1 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=Image></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

The figures were released by the Veterinary Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control in Ha Noi on Jan. 2.

The department warned that the disease is likely to reoccur in other areas across the country, particularly northern provinces where the transport and trading of poultry and poultry products of unclear origin have yet to show signs of decrease.

To prevent avian influenza from spreading in the Mekong Delta region, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has allocated more bird flu vaccines, disinfectant, sprayers and protective equipment to the three affected provinces and high-risk localities.

Meanwhile, the National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control has asked relevant ministries and agencies to step up efforts to instruct and supervise the implementation of measures to curb avian influenza and flu type H5N1 in humans.

.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[4-ABBA]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Just curious....how long are chickens usually kept on a production farm in Vietnam before they are sent to market?

I also would assume that, when each "generation" of chicks hatch, they will also need to be immunized....??

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Vietnam on alert as bird flu spreads

by Frank Zeller

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnamese and United Nations animal health experts have warned of a heightened bird flu threat after the virus was detected in poultry flocks in the country's south and centre in recent weeks.


Vietnam has reported no new human cases since late 2005 after suffering 42 deaths in two years, but cold weather, bird migration and an upcoming seasonal peak in chicken consumption all increase the risk of a resurgence, they said Wednesday.

Avian influenza has broken out among ducks or chicken in 26 communes across southern Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang provinces over the past month, causing thousands of bird deaths and the slaughter of nearly 30,000 animals.

Officials have since vaccinated 700,000 illegally raised fowl not covered in twice-yearly vaccination drives, said Deputy Agriculture Minister Bui Ba Bong.

The disease was also detected in early December in a spot check in Vietnam's central Quang Nam province where three quarters of a sample of 30 unvaccinated ducks tested positive, animal health officials said.

Hoang Van Nam, the deputy head of the national animal health department, said bird flu alerts had been issued for five more northern and central provinces.

"We are very concerned about the test results in Quang Nam," he told AFP. "We have carried out tests and will do more, but the situation is worrisome."

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said it was "closely monitoring" the situation and testing virus samples, but stressed there was no cause for panic as most of Vietnam's poultry had been vaccinated.

"It looks as if there is no sign that the vaccination is breaking down, and the government is doing everything to maintain the impetus and to continue to vaccinate," said FAO country chief Andrew Speedy.

But he said the bird flu risk rose in colder winter months and around the traditional Tet New Year's celebrations in mid-February, when chicken consumption and the movement of people across the country peak.

The FAO's technical advisor on bird flu in Vietnam, Jeff Gilbert, said the latest cases "again confirm that the virus is circulating, and to say we have vaccinated enough or that the problem is over would be absolutely premature."

Bird flu's global human death toll of 157 since 2003 is low compared to that of many other diseases, but epidemiologists fear the virus could mutate to more easily spread to or between people and trigger a human pandemic.

Gilbert said that the FAO had offered its support to Vietnam at a meeting Wednesday and would test samples of the virus in its regional laboratories to check for changes at the molecular level.

Vietnam has achieved praise for containing H5N1 through mass culls and vaccinations, bans on live poultry markets and public education. The World Bank this week announced 10 million dollars in additional funding to fight bird flu.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung this month ordered 11 ministers to head bird flu control task forces across Vietnam, and the government has launched a nationwide campaign for January to enforce food and farm hygiene.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070103/hl_afp/healthfluvietnam

three quarters of a sample of 30 unvaccinated ducks tested positive....

Guess this is the answer to the question of AlaskaDenise in post # 2.

Quang Nam is at the centre of Vietnam. The reported outbreaks till now are from the South. Map attached.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

I was curious about maternal immunity in poultry & found this:

.....Broiler breeders will pass antibodies through the yolk and into the chick. A large proportion of breeders are hyper-immunized (they receive 2 doses of killed vaccine prior to lay) allowing them to pass on higher, more uniform levels of antibodies to the progeny. Maternal derived antibodies (MDA?s) play an important role in the bird?s ability to generate immunity and prevent disease. As a result, timing is a key element in IBD vaccinations. It is important to allow sufficient time for the antibodies in the chick to decline so they do not render the vaccine inactive. However, we want to vaccinate birds before they are totally open to field infection......

from: http://www.poultryindustrycouncil.ca/compendium-vaccine_programs.html

Note this is not influenza vaccination.

.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

January 03, 2007 17:52 PM

Bird Flu Likely To Spread To Central, Northern Vietnam

HANOI, Jan 3 (Bernama) -- Bird flu, which has hit Vietnam's three southern provinces since early last month, is likely to strike the central and northern regions, Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported Wednesday quoting a local media as saying.

The risk of bird flu appearing in the two central provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai, and the three northern localities of Bac Giang, Hai Phong and Thai Binh is apparent, Saigon Liberation newspaper quoted Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong as saying.

The risk is more obvious in the two central provinces since most of samples from healthy fowls there have been tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1, he said at the meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Bird Flu Prevention and Fight on Tuesday.

Noting that bird flu surveillance systems in some localities are weak, he said fowl vaccination in a few central provinces is not complete, and illegal poultry trade and smuggling in some localities is rampant.

According to the committee, bird flu has, since December 2005, hit 26 communes in 12 districts in the three provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang.

It has killed some 6,000 poultry, and led to the forced culling of nearly 23,000 others, mainly ducks and chickens.

Amid recent outbreaks, the agriculture ministry is considering the possibility of extending the existing national ban on hatching waterfowls which is to expire on Feb 28, VNA reported.

Eleven Vietnamese ministers have been assigned to go to 35 cities and provinces nationwide to offer anti-bird flu directions and inspect relevant activities there. Their trips will last till the end of March.

Bird flu outbreaks, starting in Vietnam in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country.

-- BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=239355

11 ministers make a taskforce, seems high alert indeed

It seems BF in poultry pretty much all over Vietnam now, from South to North.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/01/650163/

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD class=tintop_title vAlign=top align=left>March: water fowl breeding re-allowed</TD></TR><TR><TD class=news_date vAlign=top align=left height=20>19:54' 03/01/2007 (GMT+7) </TD></TR><TR><TD class=text vAlign=top align=left>VietNamNet Bridge ? The order to ban poultry raising will no be longer valid after February 28, and the ban will not be extended.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=1 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=Image></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development plans to allow farmers to raise water birds again, but will put breeding activities under strict control, especially as the bird flu has recurred in three provinces and threatens to spread to other localities.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong said that it was impossible to prohibit farmers from raising water birds. The plan on raising water birds is being drafted by the ministry, and will be open for suggestions from relevant ministries in some days. However, Mr Bong has stressed the need for keeping strict control over poultry raising; otherwise, the bird flu epidemic could spread to other provinces, causing big losses.

The decision on allowing the resumption of water bird breeding was announced after Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung had working sessions with leaders of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang (the three provinces that have seen the recurrence of the bird flu pandemic). The Prime Minister said that it was impossible to prohibit farmers from raising poultry.

According to experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), poultry raising households will be forced to follow strict procedures. The owners of egg incubation establishments must have fowl inoculated when they are 14 days old, before providing fledgling birds to poultry keepers. The Government is considering propping up expenses for inoculation and providing enough vaccines for localities.

Mr Bong said that MARD had proposed five main methods of keeping water birds, under which, water birds are kept either in controlled ponds or in coops. However, the methods prove to be unfeasible. Most of the households raising poultry are poor and if following the said methods, they cannot economise food for birds by feeding them with scattered rice left after the crops (10-15% of the total).

.


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Chinese fowl still imported during bird flu resurgence

Just as bird flu resurfaced again after a one-year absence, authorities reported an alarming four tons of illegal Chinese fowl arrived in Vietnam since December last year in a northern province bordering China.
Lang Son provincial authorities also said they confiscated nearly two tons of fowl transported from China on three occasions on Tuesday alone.

In Quang Ninh province, also in the north, as the New Year was approaching last Thursday and Friday, local authorities confiscated 1.2 tons, said Nguyen Dang Truong, head of the province?s market management.

Lucrative business

A Tuoi Tre journalist in the role of a fowl trader on Tuesday managed to convince an experienced middlemen called Trung to take him to the Na Pan Bridge in Lang Son?s Bao Lam commune bordering China.

Trung said the area is most active at midnight and is the most hectic under-the-counter fowl market in the nation.

Several steps away, a big youth holding a walkie-talkie in a heavily tattooed hand appeared from inside a small hut temporarily erected on the street. He blocked their path, asking insolently who the journalist was.

Only after Trung explained they were looking for chickens did the guy grant them access.

Passing the ?sentry box?, Trung said the man is a ?barn owl?, meaning a guard. Every fowl transporter has to pay him VND2,000 (12 cents) per trip on ?toll fees?, he added.

A while further, we saw many chicken pens lying haphazardly somewhere on the Vietnam-China border.

The scene was sickening. Each pen was cramped with over 20 chickens, mostly having pale-white cheeks, dull eyes, drooping heads, feathers being stuck together and all emitting foul smells. Some even salivated.

A dozen or so men and women started carrying the pens on their shoulders, two on one.

Trung said they were taking them to Tam Lung area in Thuy Hung commune, a two-hour walk for a fee of VND3,000-4,000 (up to 25 cents) per chicken. Thus they can earn over VND100,000 ($6.25) a trip, a fortune for rural residents.

The masterminds behind the scene, the traders - then transported the chicken, mostly very cheap, to downtown areas for sale.

One kilogram of chickens is sold for only 5-6 Chinese yuans or roughly 65 cents in China while the price is five times higher in Vietnam, around VND50,000 (US$3), said Do Van Duoc, head of the province?s Animal Heath Department.

He said minus transport and ?toll? fees, each trader doubles his initial purchase.

On average, it is estimated several tons of Chinese chicken are smuggled into Lang Son daily.

At Ky Lua market, a woman offers chickens for VND32,000 a kilogram. Here, the journalist found no officials or guards.

However, Hoang Van Son, deputy head of the province?s market management department, dismissed this, saying there has never been any Chinese chickens being sold illegally in Ky Lua.

But he admitted, ?Many times as authorities were going to stop an illegal transport, a fleet of motorbikes boldly rushed head-on into the officials??


http://www.thanhniennews.com/features/?catid=10&newsid=23846

 

[MHSC]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Just curious....how long are chickens usually kept on a production farm in Vietnam before they are sent to market?

I also would assume that, when each "generation" of chicks hatch, they will also need to be immunized....??

It takes as little as 6 weeks for some breeds to be ready for market. I read somewhere here that there are at least 24 billion chickens alive on earth at any one time, approx. 35 million are slaughtered daily for consumption. Vaccinating every chicken for H5N1 is not feasible at this time.

http://www.upc-online.org/fall98/slaughter_review.html

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Last updated: 15:59 - January 4, 2007


No new cases of human bird flu infection since 13 months

Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan has affirmed that Vietnam has not seen any case of human bird flu infection since November 14, 2005.

Also on Jan. 3, Huan, who is also Deputy Chairman of the National Steering Committee for Prevention of Bird Flu and H5N1 Virus on Humans, said that four people suspected of being infected with bird flu in southernmost Ca Mau province have been tested negative to the lethal H5N1 virus.

The four patients, who have been rushed to the General Hospital of Nam Cam district since December 22, 2006, are now in good health, he added.

At a meeting which was held later the same day, the leaders of the Steering Committee asked all localities, ministries and sectors to combine efforts in taking drastic measures to prevent and zone off bird flu hot spots through establishing five permanent taskforces to prevent the spread of the disease.

All hospitals are required to assign their staff to be on duty around the clock.

The health sector will organise courses for doctors nationwide on detecting suspected bird flu patients and in prescribing appropriate treatment. (VNA)

http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/life/040107/life_nonew.htm

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

No 2006 human bird flu cases in Vietnam

17:06' 04/01/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge ? The number of cases of flu type A has been increasing. However, no person positive for H5N1/type A has been found since November 14, 2005.

The National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control gathered yesterday afternoon to discuss solutions to prevent bird flu in humans.

According to Nguyen Tran Hien, Head of the Central Epidemic Prevention Institute, the people suffering from flu in the first nine months of the year mostly suffered from type B, while most of the flu infected cases in the last months of the year were type A.

However, most of them were infected with H1/type A, not H5. The institute has not discovered any case of type A/H5N1 among the 112 cases of pneumonia in the north and the Central Highlands.

Prior to that, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health asked provinces and cities nationwide to closely coordinate with local veterinary agencies to monitor and thoroughly stamp out possible bird flu outbreaks in order to prevent infection cases in humans.

Dr Nguyen Huy Nga, Head of the Preventive Health Care Agency under the Ministry of Health, said that four cases of suspected bird flu in Nam Can district in Ca Mau Province were negative for type A/H5N1. The four people were hospitalised after they ate dead chicken. The patients are being closely watched, and they have become better.

Mr Nga said that the Ministry of Health had set up five mobile emergency teams under the Preventive Health Care Agency, which will be sent to the localities in case of type A/H5N1 epidemic outbreaks.

The Ministry of Health has announced that a maneuver of preventing and fighting against bird flu in humans will take place in Cam Pha town in Quang Ninh province.

In January, Minister of Health Tran Thi Trung Chien will take inspection tours of several localities, including Hanoi, HCM City, and Thua Thien ? Hue.


Since the bird flu epidemic appeared in Vietnam, 93 cases of infections have been reported, 42 of which have resulted in deaths.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/01/650509/

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces take aim at bird flu

(04-01-2007)

HCM CITY ? Provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are making an all-out effort to prevent the further spread of bird flu that broke out in the region December 11 and continued to threaten other localities.

To date, provincial animal health agencies in Hau Giang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces have vaccinated some 700,000 fowl in the past month following several outbreaks in the three areas.

The latest bird flu incident involved 34 chickens three days ago, belonging to a family in Vi Thuy District, Hau Giang Province.

This area was one of the two sites in the province besides Long My District where four people died from bird flu during the 2004-2005 period.

Nguyen Hien Trung, head of the provincial animal health department, said the spread of the virus was under control, attributing the recent outbreak in Vi Thuy to migratory birds or unvaccinated flocks.

The province plans to vaccinate 600,000 more new poultry on January 3-10 with Long My alone already receiving 15,000 doses of vaccines, provincial agricultural director Nguyen Van Dong said. No fresh outbreaks were reported as of January 2.
Bird flu has to date struck 25 communes in 11 districts in the southern provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang, resulting in the burial of nearly 24,000 poultry.

The figures were released by the Animal Health Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

The department warned that the disease was likely to recur in other areas across the country, particularly in northern provinces where the transport and trading in poultry and poultry products of dubious origin was yet to abate.

In Bac Lieu Province, bird flu has been spreading in 13 communes in districts Gia Rai, Hoa Binh, Vinh Loi, Phuoc Long and Hong Dan, with more than 14,350 fowl dead or destroyed.

Some 180 out of 500 ducks raised by a farming household in Hoa Binh District and another flock in Phuoc Long District both tested positive for the deadly H5N1 virus strain although they had been inoculated twice.

The provincial People?s Committee said it would compensate farmers for each culled poultry. They would receive VND20,000 for each breeder duck or chicken, VND15,000 for each lean duck or chicken more than two months old and VND10,000 for those less than two months old.

Authorities in An Giang Province have ordered a ban on transporting and trading poultry along the Viet Nam-Cambodia border.

The province was adopting five urgent measures to curb the disease: information about the virus and its spread; disinfection and detoxification; vaccination; control of poultry slaughter and trade; and a farming model geared towards biological security.

No new fowls were reported dead of bird flu in Ca Mau Province as of January 2, the first day the province was free from the disease since the epidemic broke out there on December 11, said Chau Thi Kim Tuyen, deputy head of the provincial animal health department.

The threat of a bird flu outbreak remained high in Dong Thap Province, particularly in the two border districts of Tan Hong and Hong Ngu where hundreds of young waterfowl wander around rice fields and where no control measures had been applied.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Bui Ba Bong, told a regular meeting of the National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control on Tuesday that if not closely controlled, the bird flu epidemic would fan out to central and northern provinces.

He said that the additional vaccination drive this time would target those flocks that had been illegally raised but it was still unclear how many ducks and chickens were being raised illegally across the nation.

Eleven Government officials have been assigned as heads of inspection teams to monitor and speed up the adoption of urgent measures to prevent bird flu recurrence and possible transmission to human beings, he added.

No bird flu on humans

No new case of bird flu on humans have been found in the country since November 2005, the Ministry of Health (MoH) reported yesterday.

According to a report of the Ca Mau Province?s Health Department, there were cases of virus pneumonia in Nam Can District. The patients were family members who were affected after eating dead chicken. But the tests turned out negative for H5N1 virus. ? VNS

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01HEA040107

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Int'l experts to inspect bird flu prevention in southern provinces

04/01/2007 -- 4:57 PM

Ha Noi (VNA) - Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will join their Vietnamese colleagues in inspecting measures to prevent type A flu in humans and poultry in the southern provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang.

The trip, scheduled for next week, aims at evaluating the development of type A flu in different stages and areas, thereby putting forth suitable steps to control the disease, said Dr. Nguyen Huy Nga, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicines under the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, on Jan. 4.

The health official also affirmed that Viet Nam has discovered no new human cases of H5N1 infections since Nov. 14, 2005.

Dr. Nguyen Tran Hien, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, warned of the high risk of recurrence of bird flu in humans and poultry after virus type A was once again detected in poultry flocks in several southern provinces.

Hien revealed that the institute will coordinate in parallel with the Ho Chi Minh City-based Pasteur Institute in transferring skills to use the RT-PCR test system to staff members of the Central Highlands Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, six medical colleges and 26 centres for preventive medicines throughout the country to cope with possible bird flu outbreaks.

The disease has, since early December 2006, hit Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang provinces, resulting in the burying of tens of thousands of fowls.-Enditem

http://www.vnagency.com.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/178859/Default.aspx

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

An old outbreak lesson revisited

(05-01-2007)

The new poultry outbreaks in some prov-inces of Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta have alerted authorities to the fact that the virus is still circulating in the country. Why are poultry outbreaks still spreading despite strict measures and our disease control experiences which we have learned over the last three years? A real lack of public awareness on the implications of not reporting sick or dead chickens and the continued illegal raising of ducks are among the factors that led to the escalation of outbreaks.

As of January 3, 2007, poultry outbreaks have been reported in 27 communes in 14 districts of Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Hau Giang provinces in the South. Regrettably, outbreaks were not reported to local authorities until one week after they occurred. Late reporting of outbreaks can lead to much larger scales of infection.

In a meeting chaired by the National Steering Committee on Avian Flu to discuss solutions for the new outbreaks, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Cao Duc Phat, emphasised that "If we contain and stamp out outbreaks thoroughly, the possibility of disease spreading widely will be greatly restricted".

These new outbreaks have also raised concerns that the ban on waterfowl breeding has not been adequately adhered to. Nguyen Trung Hien, Chief of Hau Giang?s Department of Animal Health admitted that "It is very difficult to impose a ban on raising waterfowl. A farmer says to me that if he raises 100-200 ducks, the ducks can live off snails and insects," this implies that they do not have to invest in buying feed for the ducks.

Since ducks are cost effective, they are raised illegally and are therefore not usually vaccinated and their sickness and deaths are not reported, this is a vicious circle that needs to be stopped.

Bui Quang Anh, Chief of the Department of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said, "Public awareness is key. If the public are aware of the danger of this disease and report the dangers to authorities in a timely manner, the disease can be contained and controlled".

There have also been reports from post vaccination surveillance conducted on limited numbers of poultry, that there is a limited level of the virus still circulating in the Central and Northern provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Bac Giang, Hai Phong and Thai Binh. These reports are based on the regular surveillance conducted by authorities. They indicate that the virus is still present in these areas, but at a level that is still very low and as of yet has not caused outbreaks in poultry.

Prevention and control of bird flu can be successful only with the strong co-operation of the public.VNS


http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01AGR050107

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Bac Lieu culls unvaccinated poultry to prevent H5N1 outbreaks

17:06' 05/01/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge ? Bac Lieu Province has discovered four new H5N1 pandemic sources in the province, and had to cull 1,600 ducks yesterday.

The total number of communes and wards in the province discovered as having poultry dead from diseases has reached 16. Bac Lieu has decided to cull all unvaccinated poultry under 14 days old in order to prevent the bird flu epidemic from spreading.

Vinh Binh commune in Hoa Binh district has decided to cull a herd of 300 ducks. Long Thanh and Vinh Loi communes have killed 750 ducks and two communes in Gia Lai district have killed 450 units.

Head of the Bac Lieu Veterinary Agency Lam Tri Thong said that the diseased fowls and ducks had just been inoculated, and the time from the vaccination until infection was not long enough to ensure the immunity. In order to prevent the bird flu epidemic from spreading, the provincial authority has decided to take drastic measures to control the pandemic.

?All the fowls and ducks that have not been vaccinated will be culled,? Mr Thong said.

Yesterday the southern province of Hau Giang discovered another pandemic hotspot area, where 22 fowls were dead. However, it is not sure if the fowls died from H5N1. Specimens of the dead fowls have been sent for testing. There has been no new pandemic source discovered in Ca Mau province.

Meanwhile, Soc Trang province has discovered dead fowls and ducks in several districts. However, according to Nguyen Huu Minh, Deputy Head of Soc Trang Veterinary Agency, the dead poultry did not show signs of H5N1 infection.

According to the Ca Mau Health Department, five persons in the province ate dead fowls and were hospitalised; however, not one of them was found infected with H5N1 virus.

On January 2, 2007, the Government Office released a notice about Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung?s conclusion on the prevention and fight against the bird flu in southern provinces. The pandemic sources in Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang have been put under strict control; however, there remain high risks of the virus spreading to other localities. He has urged local authorities to take drastic measures to prevent the spreading of the pandemic, while ensuring normal poultry farming.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/01/650901/

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

http://www.hpj.com/archives/2007/jan07/jan8/Vietnamesefarmersrefusetocu.cfm?title=Vietnamese%20farmers%20refuse%20to%20cull%3C/A%3E

Vietnamese farmers refuse to cull

HANOI (AP)--Farmers trying to protect their poultry from being slaughtered may be unintentionally spreading bird flu in southern Vietnam, an animal health official warned Dec. 22.

Some 6,000 chickens and ducklings have died of the H5N1 bird flu strain in the past two weeks in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces, in the first reported cases of the virus in Vietnam in a year.

Animal health workers have been sent to the area to cull all birds that haven't been vaccinated to try to stop the virus from spreading further, said Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of the Department of Animal Health.

An animal health expert warned, meanwhile, that poultry farmers unwilling to comply with the government-ordered cull could be endangering other flocks and themselves.

"When we told poultry farmers in the outbreak areas to keep their birds in their farms for culling, some farmers intentionally released their poultry into the fields," said Nguyen Ba Thanh, director of the regional animal health center in the southern city of Can Tho.

"That could further facilitate the spread of the virus," Thanh said, adding that some 2,000 birds have been culled in the latest outbreak.

Nam said about 150 more ducks have died of H5N1 in Bac Lieu province, in the villages of Muoi Chin and Muoi Bay, both within a kilometer of Ke Phong where some 5,500 one-month-old ducks and 500 chickens that died of H5N1 were discovered in mid-December.

"We expect more small-scale outbreaks to occur," he said.

Although 42 people have died of H5N1 in Vietnam since late 2003, the Southeast Asian country has not reported any human infections since November 2005, and the last reported outbreak in birds was a month later.

At least 154 people have died from H5N1 worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Most of those who died came into direct contact with infected birds, but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that becomes easily passed among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.

Date: 1/4/07

.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Bird flu outbreak spreads to fourth province in Vietnam

Published: Tuesday January 9, 2007

Hanoi- Vietnam on Tuesday reported outbreaks of bird flu in
poultry in a fourth province, dealing a blow to hopes that a recent
reappearance of the deadly H5N1 virus could be contained quickly.

Tests on Tuesday confirmed that 70 dead ducks in two separate
farms in southern Kien Giang province died of H5N1, according to
Hoang Van Nam, director of the epidemic unit of Vietnam's Animal
Health Department.

"Bird flu outbreaks have now expanded to 41 communes in four
provinces," Nam said. The other provinces are Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and
Soc Trang, all in the southernmost tip of Vietnam's Mekong Delta.

Both of the Kien Giang outbreaks were in ducklings that were
hatched illegally, defying Vietnam's strict ban on raising new ducks,
according to Dinh Cong Than, director of Kien Giang's Animal Health
Department.

"Authorities in these communes failed to control the hatching of
animals there," Than said. "We are very worried that the outbreaks
will expand to other communes."

The four affected provinces this month launched a new programme to
vaccinate 1.5 million ducks and chickens in an effort to halt the
renewed spread of H5N1, one year after Vietnam first brought the
virus under control.

The government has also ordered strict inspections, new
vaccinations and a ban on transporting poultry in an attempt to
prevent a return to the days of widespread infection of poultry and
dozens of human deaths from bird flu.

Since 2003, Vietnam has seen 42 people die from bird flu
infections. The virus also wiped out more than 100 million Vietnamese
chickens and ducks.

No human deaths from bird flu have been confirmed in the latest
H5N1 outbreak, but the reappearance in poultry has raised fears, as
there is no human vaccine and millions of Vietnamese traditionally
slaughter chickens during the upcoming Tet lunar new year holiday.

Bird flu is not easily contagious among humans - most people catch
it only rarely from close contact with diseased birds.

However, scientists warn that continued contact with humans could
allow the H5N1 virus to adapt and mutate into a human influenza
strain, which could wipe out millions of people worldwide because
there would be no natural immunity to a new virus.

Three such influenza pandemics have been recorded in the last
century and spread around the world quickly, killing from 1 million
to 40 million people.

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Bird_flu_outbreak_spreads_to_fourth_01092007.html

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Central Vietnam facing imminent bird flu threat

Bird flu spreads in southern Vietnam

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam has said a series of bird flu outbreaks among poultry has spread to a fifth southern province, raising fears of a nationwide resurgence of the deadly virus this winter.

The latest cases were reported Thursday on a small farm in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, where 20 chickens died of the H5N1 strain of the virus and 10 more were culled, said the Hanoi-based national animal health department.

The latest outbreak has brought the list of communes that have suffered avian influenza outbreaks since December to 43 in the five provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Hau Giang, Kien Giang and Vinh Long.

Health officials have blamed the new cases on gaps in the country's mass vaccination campaigns and small scale farmers ignoring a ban on hatching ducks, which can carry and spread bird flu without showing symptoms.

Neighbouring Cambodia has tightened border controls after the virus was discovered in Vietnam's border province of Kien Giang on Tuesday.

No new human cases have been reported in Vietnam since November 2005 after 42 people were killed by the virus over two years, more than half of the 93 people known to have been infected.

Vietnamese and UN officials have warned this week that cold weather, bird migration and a seasonal peak in chicken consumption for the Tet traditional lunar new year in mid-February increase the risk of a resurgence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070111/hl_afp/healthfluvietnam