HCM CITY — Provinces and cities in the country are carrying out preventive methods against the spread of avian influenza, including the provision of vaccines.

The People’s Committee of the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, for example, on Monday approved more than two million vaccines against the A/H5N1 virus for poultry raised in high-risk areas, including communes near the Cambodian border where an outbreak of avian flu recently occurred.

Teams of inspectors from government agencies are making regular checks of rice paddies, markets, slaughterhouses and vehicles that operate near the Cambodian border.

Agencies in the province have described the signs of avian influenza to farmers, who have been asked to report problems as soon as possible to authorities.

Last week, 538 ducks in Phú Tân District’s Vàm Nao hamlet tested positive for A/H5N1, and of these, 238 were killed.

The district’s Animal Health and Breeding Centre worked with the People’s Committee to destroy the remaining number and sprayed chemicals to disinfect breeding farms.

The province is offering an award of VNĐ500,000 (US$18.5) to anyone who provides information about mass deaths among unvaccinated ducks or chicken, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Hậu Giang Province has also destroyed poultry infected with avian influenza and carried out other preventive methods.

In HCM City, the People’s Committee has asked its districts and agencies to continue preventive methods against the disease to avoid reoccurrences in the city.

They have been told to check for new illegal live-poultry trading establishments.

At districts considered hotspots for illegal trading of live poultry, such as Bình Tân District and District 9, more inspections will be conducted and fines handed out.

As of January 17, at least 103 sites for illegal poultry trading had been identified in 14 districts, according to the city’s Animal Health Division.

Quảng Ngãi Province has instructed its agencies to closely control breeding and to warn people not to buy breeds without clear origin.

Unvaccinated chicken should be included on a list, while farmers need instruction on how to safely breed fowl, provincial authorities have said.

Avian influenza broke out in the province’s Đức Phổ District during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, but it was controlled and has not spread to other areas. — VNS