HẢI PHÒNG — The Department of Animal Health (DAH) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has warned about the threat of bird flu outbreak following one A/H5N6 bird flu outbreak recorded in the past 21 days in Đại Bản Commune, An Dương District, in the northern port city of Hải Phòng.

According to a report of the Hải Phòng Animal Health Division, the disease first broke out in a farm belonging to Mai Văn Tình. Tình raised 3,200 poultries, of which nearly 3,000 chickens tested positive for A/H5N6 virus. The 200 ducks were not affected as they had been vaccinated.

Tình bought the chickens from the northern province of Thái Nguyên without any quarantine papers and did not give them any vaccine. When they started dying, Tình did not report it to the local authorities and culled the birds by himself.

After discovering the case, the Hải Phòng Animal Health Division culled the remaining chickens and sprayed chemicals to sterilise the infected area.

DAH said the chances of the disease spreading the next time were high. It recommended localities to take steps to prevent the disease, punish farmers for illegal poultry import and monitor farms to detect the disease in time.

The country has also witnessed cases of foot-and-mouth disease in Sông Mã, Bắc Yên and Phù Yên districts in the northern mountainous province of Sơn La. DAH confirmed there was high risk of the disease’s outbreak in animals that had not been vaccinated.

DAH said local authorities should keep a close watch on livestock transport and slaughter work to limit the risk. — VNS