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Amid fears that the poultry vaccine currently in use is losing its effectiveness, Vietnam is facing a major outbreak of H5N1 again. Only a few short weeks ago, Vietnam was being hailed as a model of containment; a genuine success story.
All of this shows how difficult it is to control this virus once it gains a foothold.
For the next 30 days Vietnam has ordered an aggressive campaign to either vaccinate, or cull, all waterfowl in the country. Hospitals have been alerted to be extra vigilant when treating patients with influenza-like-illnesses.
Bird flu hits 16 provinces in Vietnam
Quang Nam in the central region became the 16th Vietnamese province to succumb to bird flu, the media reported Thursday.
In Vinh Nam hamlet in Duy Xuyen district, 370 out of a flock of 400 ducklings raised by a household had been infected May 30, the province’s veterinary bureau said. Specimens had tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus, it added.
The central Animal Health Department reported a day earlier that 115 ducks had died on a farm in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho of H5N1.
The infected flocks in Quang Nam and Can Tho were not vaccinated against bird flu and animal health workers slaughtered the remaining 685 birds.
The number of birds killed by the virus or slaughtered nationwide has risen to more than 50,000 this month.
Local veterinary agencies reported they had culled all fowls in affected flocks, disinfected affected areas, and established quarantine checkpoints around infected areas.
The 16 Vietnamese cities and provinces affected by bird flu since the beginning of last month are Quang Ninh, Son La, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Bac Giang, Ninh Binh, Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, and Vinh Phuc in the northern region; Nghe An, Quang Ngai, and Quang Nam in the central region; and Can Tho and Dong Thap in the south.
Bird flu combat efforts
The head of the National Steering Committee for Avian Influenza Prevention and Control instructed Thursday all local agencies to keep an eye on rural farms and backyard poultry to head off possible bird flu outbreaks.
To deal with the worsening situation, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has called on the health ministry and the Standing Committee of the National Steering Committee for Avian Influenza Prevention and Control to adopt drastic measures to control the disease.
Local governments, medical, agricultural, rural development, border quarantine and preventive medical units have been asked to prepare and supply bird flu kits to local agencies to prevent transmission to humans.
The health sector has been warned to remain vigilant when treating patients suspected to be infected with H5N1 by placing them in isolation wards.
On Wednesday Minister of Agriculture Cao Duc Phat said the country was on the brink of another bird flu epidemic among poultry after the H5N1 virus had spread rapidly in the past month.
Last week Vietnam reported its first human case in a year-and-a-half, a 30-year-old man in Vinh Phuc province near Hanoi.
Doctors treating the man in Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital said his condition was improving and that he was now able to breathe without a respirator.
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