VIET NAM - The Department of Animal Health and local veterinary agencies have pooled their resources to fight the spread of avian flu in Viet Nam s central and southwestern regions. The department revealed on 4 February that the spread of bird flu has undergone complicated developments in several areas and cases of the disease have begun to spread rapidly.

On 3 February, a case of bird flu was discovered at a duck farm in Vien Binh Commune, My Xuyen District, in the southern province of Soc Trang. The local veterinary agency responded swiftly by ordering the culling of more than 500 fowl. On the same day, incidences of bird flu were discovered at a poultry farm in Minh Son commune, Do Luong District, in the central province of Nghe An.

Currently, Ca Mau, Soc Trang and Nghe An provinces are the only three provinces across the nation that have discovered new cases during the last 21 days, the minimum time period that must pass without any new infections before an area can declare itself free of bird flu, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Last year, cases of bird flu occurred in 80 communes in 27 cities and provinces, resulting in the deaths of approximately 100,000 poultry, either through infection or from mass culling to prevent the spread of the disease. As many as 260 million of Vietnams birds have been vaccinated during the last year under a project to prevent and control the spread of avian influenza. Vietnams efforts to control bird flu have received praise from the international community. The World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) recently cited Vietnam as a leading light in the fight to control the epidemic, setting an example that other countries could learn from.

source :http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultrynews/17051/viet-nam-steps-up-fight-against-bird-flu