http://www.todayonline.com/articles/135261.asp
Vietnam PM warns of bird flu threat[SIZE=+0]
Tuesday ? August 8, 2006
Vietnam's premier has warned that bird flu could again strike his nation, citing outbreaks in neighbouring countries, days after authorities killed over 50 storks infected with an avian flu strain.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at a government bird flu meeting that Vietnam could soon see this year's first H5N1 virus infections and urged officials to remain vigilant, the state-controlled Tin Tuc daily said.
Dung ordered state agencies to punish illegal poultry smugglers and told the health ministry to step up public awareness campaigns and have respirators, other medical equipment and medicines at the ready, the report said.
The warning came as other Asian countries also stepped up preparations to prevent or fight new outbreaks after the virus caused two more human deaths in Thailand.
The warning also followed a recent mass cull of ducks in Laos.
Vietnamese officials at the weekend killed 53 storks at a family amusement park outside the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City after random tests showed several birds carried an avian influenza strain.
"We discovered the H5 virus, and it was alarming enough to justify immediate preventive measures," said Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of animal health at the country's Agriculture Ministry.
Vietnam would carry out the more technically complicated tests to find whether the strain was H5N1, said Nguyen Kim Chau, deputy director of the city's animal health department.
"We have strictly monitored all areas in the park where pigeons, wild poultry and other birds live," added Chau. "These areas have been quarantined."
Vietnam, where bird flu has claimed 42 lives since late 2003, the world's highest death toll after Indonesia, has reported no new human case since November, following mass vaccinations and poultry culls.
Vietnamese scientists have also been working on a human bird flu vaccine.
"We hope to test the human vaccine before the end of the year," said Nguyen Thu Van, a researcher in the Institute of Epidemiology. "We are waiting for approval from the Ministry of Health."
The Saigon Giai Phong daily this week reported the institute was planning initial tests on 30, then 100 volunteers in the project started in 2004.
World health experts have warned that the H5N1 virus could trigger a global pandemic if it were to mutate and become easily transmitted between humans. ? AFP [/SIZE]
Vietnam PM warns of bird flu threat[SIZE=+0]
Tuesday ? August 8, 2006
Vietnam's premier has warned that bird flu could again strike his nation, citing outbreaks in neighbouring countries, days after authorities killed over 50 storks infected with an avian flu strain.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at a government bird flu meeting that Vietnam could soon see this year's first H5N1 virus infections and urged officials to remain vigilant, the state-controlled Tin Tuc daily said.
Dung ordered state agencies to punish illegal poultry smugglers and told the health ministry to step up public awareness campaigns and have respirators, other medical equipment and medicines at the ready, the report said.
The warning came as other Asian countries also stepped up preparations to prevent or fight new outbreaks after the virus caused two more human deaths in Thailand.
The warning also followed a recent mass cull of ducks in Laos.
Vietnamese officials at the weekend killed 53 storks at a family amusement park outside the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City after random tests showed several birds carried an avian influenza strain.
"We discovered the H5 virus, and it was alarming enough to justify immediate preventive measures," said Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of animal health at the country's Agriculture Ministry.
Vietnam would carry out the more technically complicated tests to find whether the strain was H5N1, said Nguyen Kim Chau, deputy director of the city's animal health department.
"We have strictly monitored all areas in the park where pigeons, wild poultry and other birds live," added Chau. "These areas have been quarantined."
Vietnam, where bird flu has claimed 42 lives since late 2003, the world's highest death toll after Indonesia, has reported no new human case since November, following mass vaccinations and poultry culls.
Vietnamese scientists have also been working on a human bird flu vaccine.
"We hope to test the human vaccine before the end of the year," said Nguyen Thu Van, a researcher in the Institute of Epidemiology. "We are waiting for approval from the Ministry of Health."
The Saigon Giai Phong daily this week reported the institute was planning initial tests on 30, then 100 volunteers in the project started in 2004.
World health experts have warned that the H5N1 virus could trigger a global pandemic if it were to mutate and become easily transmitted between humans. ? AFP [/SIZE]