The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has announced a National Monitoring Programme for Avian Flu to prevent the spread of the virus.— Photo anninhthudo.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has announced a National Monitoring Programme for Avian Flu to prevent the spread of the virus. Two cases were recently discovered in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế.

The programme is aimed at early detection to enable early warning about the likelihood of the virus entering Việt Nam, and the threats of an epidemic or unsafe food.

It is also expected to help build virus-free zones and facilities to diminish the risk of virus transmission to human beings, foster sustainable growth of poultry husbandry and promote export of poultry products.

Under the programme, regular sample checks will be conducted at all live poultry markets in provinces where poultry farming is a key industry and border provinces.

Monitoring activities and sampling will also be conducted for wild birds and farming of wild bird flocks.

All provinces and companies with poultry production export chains, as well as breeder farms under the management of the central Government or local authorities, are also subject to regular monitoring.

The programme will help improve the professional capacity of monitoring bodies by organising training activities for staff at seven regional veterinary agencies and 63 city or provincial departments of husbandry and veterinary, as well as all veterinary laboratories which conduct avian flu virus tests.

Annual training sessions will be held for veterinary staff at district and ward levels to provide them with knowledge on virus-related diseases, clinical diagnosis and preventive measures against disease outbreak.

First outbreak in Huế

Authorities in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province discovered the first cases of H5N6 avian flu outbreak at two family-run farms in Phú Lộc District.

According to a report by the province’s Department of Husbandry and Veterinary, a total of 5,500 ducklings tested positive for the H5N6 avian infection and other 1,000 dead ducklings were buried at the landfill site on Monday.

The ducklings were raised at farms run by the families of Trương Thanh Trường in the district’s Lộc An Commune and Đặng Hương in Lộc Hòa Commune. The ducks were 20 days old.

Trường and Hương found the dead ducks on Sunday. There were some 1,000 dead ducks at each farm.

The farm owners said they bought the ducklings from Hà Nội and suspected that the animals were infected with the virus before their arrival at their farms.

Nguyễn Việt Hưng, the department’s director, said all the ducklings were buried in at a designated landfill site and his staff had conducted fumigation spraying at the farms and surrounding areas to prevent the flu from spreading.

Hưng also warned the farm owners to conduct a stricter vaccination regime for their poultry and husbandry to avoid loss. In the current cases, Trường and Hương incurred estimated losses of some VNĐ200 million (US$8,800) each from the buried ducks. — VNS