Bird Flu Center

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.

Following a batch of tests carried out on dead birds in a Vietnamese province near the Chinese border, local authorities have confirmed that H5N1 avian influenza virus is responsible for 89 chickens and ducks that were found dead at a farm in Ban Loc Village. The confirmation came from the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday. Vietnam experienced the peak period of bird flu outbreaks earlier this year, in June, as 18 cities and provinces had to cope with the virus.

There are now three provinces on the government’s watch list for any avian influenza outbreaks, while 15 other provinces have been declared free of the disease, after going for 21 days without reporting any outbreak. Vietnam death’s toll for bird flu stands at 46 people, out of the 100 confirmed infections.

Vietnam officials are looking to urgently acquire 50 million doses of flu vaccine for poultry, after avian influenza has started resurfacing, killing two people. A national campaign to vaccinate poultry in Vietnam is jeopardized as the country only has 15 million doses available. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has signed an order to approve the import of 200 million more, in the attempt to stop the spread of the disease in one of the most affected countries in the world.

An important vaccination program was adopted in 2005 which was widely appreciated in the international community and was efficient until recently, when bird and human cases started reappearing. The Animal Health Department reports that 8 provinces in northern and central regions of the country have reported outbreaks of the virus.

Vietnam, one of the most heavily hit countries by the bird flu disease, has added woes as an unusual form of pig flu has infected humans as well. While avian influenza reappeared in the central region of the country, killing hundreds of ducks in a farm, two people have fallen victims to a pig disease in northern Vietnam. Thousands of pigs have been killed in recent weeks and two out of 22 hospitalized victims of the pig disease have died. The virus causes severe internal hemorrhage as well as high fever.

Infection is usually due to the person eating pork from a diseased pig or inhaling the air next to the sick animal. Transport of pigs and pork from infected areas is expected to be banned to attempt to stop the spread of the disease.

A new case of bird flu has been reported at a duck farm located in northern Vietnam last week. This brings the number of provinces and cities infected with the dangerous H5N1 virus to 16, according to a government statement on Thursday.

A total of 240 were found dead in Viet Tri City, during the first four days of June alone. Medical staff have been culling the rest of the 130 birds in the location, as test results confirmed that H5N1 virus was present in the dead ducks.

Just days after a case of bird flu was reported in a person living in the north of the country, the disease has reappeared in a southern province. The confirmation came from the Animal Health Department on Thursday, when it was announced that the latest outbreak was found in Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long. Just two weeks ago, the authorities had declared that all the previous outbreaks spotted there, as well as in seven other provinces in the South had been contained. So far around 800 ducklings were slaughtered and the areas were sterilized.

As part of a larger plan to supply the country with the necessary means of prevention and protection against the avian flu, the Vietnamese ministry of health has announced that 1 million Tamiflu tablets, as well as 100 tonnes of Chloramin B have been stocked. The country has not detected any human case of bird flu in months, but testing is still being carried out across the country. Other preparations for the event of a flu epidemic include 1,000 respiratory machines, 500,000 sets of protective equipment and 1,000 sprayers of different kinds. People have been encouraged to get vaccinated against flu viruses, as the country’s producer of anti-flu vaccines has given reassurances that it can provide enough vaccine doses for the upcoming months.

Vietnam’s efforts of fighting avian influenza have shown visible results this year, as the Asian country has not detected any new cases of the disease since last December. A nationwide program to combat the disease has seen the majority of Vietnam’s cities and provinces vaccinate large populations of poultry. The Veterinary Department, working inside the Ministry of Agriculture, has requested the help of local authorities to reinforce necessary measures throughout the country, to ensure that the massive outbreaks recorded in 2005 will be not be seen this year.

The Vietnamese police has started an investigation into a scam which misused tens of thousands of dollars from government funds meant to prevent bird flu. The director of a Health Department from the Bac Lieu province in southern Vietnam is accused of having inflated the prices of bird flu protective equipment by 1 billion dong (around $60,000) and is ow under investigation. A local newspaper quoted a report by the provincial police to say that 5,100 masks were bought at a price of 50,000 dong, when their actual price was only 15,900 dong, while a protective suit was bought with 68,000 dong instead of 30,800 dong each. The scam took place in early 2004 when avian influenza outbreaks were detected all across the country. Vietnam had, at one point, the world’s highest bird flu death toll, but decisive measures to curb the disease have led to the country not reporting any new outbreaks among poultry this year and no human case of the disease since November 2005.

A Vietnamese research team has studied 18 bird flu victims and compared them with 8 people infected with a strain of human flu virus. The team, working at the Hospital for Tropical Disease, in Ho Chi Minh City, have discovered interesting details about the way avian influenza is manifested and the way it attacks the human body. The H5N1 virus used a high virus load to cause a massive inflammatory response which eventually kills the victim. Also, tests revealed that the highly pathogenic virus puts higher loads of the virus into the victims’ throats, rather than their nose, which commonly happens in regular human flu victims. The virus’ ability to replicate is also much higher that the one of a common flu. The human body’s response to the virus, an intense inflammatory effect, combined with other effects of the virus, is what eventually causes the patient to die. Roughly 240 people have been infected with bird flu since the first outbreaks were reported in 2003 and about half of them have succumbed to the disease. Another finding of the study was that antiviral drug are to some degree in fighting the bird flu virus, with drugs such as Tamiflu reducing the virus load and preventing a harmful response by the human immune system.

Media reports state that more ducks and geese infected with a strain of bird flu were found in the South of Vietnam. An important health official says the tests carried out on waterfowl in Tien Gian, Long An and Ben Tre provinces have revealed the virus belongs to the H5 subtype. Apparently authorities do not consider this to be an outbreak of the virus yet, but measures have been taken to cull the birds in the area and monitor the situation in the following days. Although new cases of infection have not been discovered in Vietnam for months, government authorities fear the population might have become complacent in its anti bird flu measures. An urgent directive sent on Thursday by the Prime Minister urged officials to focus strongly on the education and deployment of the forces needed to carry out preventive measures against the deadly virus. It seems a better control of waterfowl, avian influenza’s main host, is needed to ensure the country will not become yet again vulnerable to new outbreaks.

53 wild storks from a theme park in Ho Chi Minh City were killed after two of the birds were found to be infected with a strain of the bird flu virus that is sweeping across Asia. Although the birds appeared healthy, officials decided to take no chances and order the culling of the wild storks to prevent a possible spread of the virus. Wild birds are natural hosts of this particular virus and symptoms are often not showed, but the viral agent can still be passed to domestic poultry. Vietnamese authorities say that an initial failure to control waterfowl has made the country so vulnerable to new outbreaks of the disease and that the risk of infection would once again rise once wild birds will migrate from the north.

A 35 year old man admitted to Kien Giang general hospital in southern Vietnam last Sunday was found not to be infected with the avian influenza virus. The man was brought to the hospital presenting clinical symptoms of bird flu, including acute pneumonia. He has been in a deep coma for several days, but tests carried out the at the Pasteur Institute in the country’s capital have found no sign of the bird flu virus. The patient originates from the Thach Hung Commune in Giong Rieng District and suspicions arose about a possible avian influenza case after he butchered a dead duck for his family and subsequently fell ill. None of his family members or poultry have shown any flu symptoms since.

Tony Abbott, the Australian Minister for Health, on Friday praised the way Vietnam has managed to control the bird flu situation. Speaking after a visit to the Viet Doc Hospital in Hanoi, Mr Abbott stated that the fact that no human cases of bird flu infections have been recorded in the Asian country since last November is encouraging and one that should pride Vietnam.

He stressed countries already under threat by the disease need to intensify cooperation with the World Health Organization, to ensure an effective surveillance of the virus and rapid identification and treatment of new cases. Mr Abbott also gave a warning that the threat has not been fully addressed yet, as bird flu is still active in countries like Indonesia and China. The Minister’s visit to Hanoi lasted two days and featured discussion on avian influenza prevention, control and cooperation between the two countries on the subject.