Vietnam’s efforts to contain bird flu
August 29th, 2007
Vietnam officials were praised for the country’s consistent efforts to contain the bird flu virus in their country, during a conference jointly organized by the government and the Food and Agriculture Organization in Hanoi on Monday.
May this year saw a reoccurrence of the disease in the Asian country, but previously to that, there had been over 12 months without a single avian influenza case detected in poultry. Four years ago, following the first cases on its territory, Vietnam put in place strict measures to combat the spread of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus which causes bird flu. Surveillance, poultry culls and control on the movement of poultry around the country were all among the measures taken in order to reduce the risk of new infestation among birds or humans.
Families have also been discouraged from raising chickens in their backyard. Though with little success, intensive farming has been promoted among the population. The country will continue to vaccinate poultry against bird flu, as well as step up surveillance in several provinces which seem under threat.