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28 May 2007 02:27:49 GMT
Source: Reuters HANOI, May 28 (Reuters) - Deadly Bird flu Virus has spread to another
province in northern Vietnam and now nine cities and provinces have been
struck by the deadly virus in less than a month, the Agriculture
Ministry said.
Tests on ducks at a poultry farm in Ninh Binh province showed they were
infected with the H5N1 virus, the Agriculture Ministry's Animal Health
Department said in a report seen on Monday. About 1,200 of the 1,750 ducks on the farm had been vaccinated against
the H5N1 virus, the report said. It also said no fresh outbreaks were reported in the other eight cities
and provinces in the past few days. International public health authorities describe Vietnam's mass poultry
vaccination programme and other measures as a model for keeping the
virus at bay for the past 18 months. But last Wednesday, it recorded the first human case since November 2005
when a man from Vinh Phuc province near Hanoi was found to have
contracted H5N1 after he helped slaughter chickens at a friend's wedding
about a month ago. The World Health Organisation said it was working with the government to
investigate the case and the WHO needed to verify the virus sample. It
said finding the suspected patient was not alarming if it was an
isolated case. The Animal Health Department said the Agriculture Ministry had ordered
provincial animal health authorities to step up efforts to stamp out the
disease, including swift anti-bird flu vaccination of all poultry. The H5N1 virus has killed 42 people in Vietnam since it re-surfaced in
Asia in late 2003. The virus returned to poultry in the south late last year. Last month,
WHO urged Vietnam to accelerate poultry vaccination and target more
ducks, which can carry the virus without showing symptoms. Vietnam has vaccinated more than 120 million poultry in 60 of its 64
provinces so far this year, officials said. The spread of the virus in May, at the beginning of summer, is unusual
as experts say it appears to thrive best in cool temperatures and
weakens in warmer weather.
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