The Minister made the demand at a session of the National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control and Prevention on May 29 that was convened to contain the increased number of outbreaks of bird flu over the last month.

Highlighting the importance of the directives the Minister said he and his deputy Bui Ba Bong will directly supervise the fight against the virus in the country's northern provinces and the month-long countrywide sterilisation campaign, that begins on June 1.

According to reports from veterinary missions that have been examining bird flu-infected localities, the immune rate of poultry is very low due to poor vaccination practices and uncontrolled hatching.

Head of MARD’s Veterinary Department Bui Quang Anh said bird flu has so far been reported in ten provinces and cities and fresh outbreaks have been detected in northern Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh provinces and southern Dong Thap province.

Since early this month, over 49,000 poultry have been found either dead or have been culled by health workers.

Meanwhile, the first patient to be infected by the H5N1 bird flu strain in the past 17 months is now able to breathe unassisted, said doctors from Bach Mai hospital, on May 29.

Deputy Hospital Director Dr. Tran Thuy Hanh said the patient is also able to sit up and eat.

The 29-year-old man from the midland province of Vinh Phuc was transported to the Hanoi-based hospital on May 15, in a critical condition.

He was first diagnosed with acute pneumonia before testing positive for the H5N1 virus, doctors said.

The same day, Vietnam’s efforts and measures to prevent and control bird flu and flu type A on human beings were highly appreciated at a conference on “Partnership for Avian and Human Influenza Control” (PAHI) in Hanoi.

International partners in the fight against the epidemic, considered the joint efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Health Ministry of Vietnam as valuable experience for the world community.

However, a United Nations coordinator in Vietnam warned of a high risk of widespread outbreaks of bird flu and flu on humans as the disease has already reappeared in ten provinces and cities and, the first human case infected with H5N1 virus was found after 17 months (since November 2005).

The Vietnamese government has issued 11 documents to step up the fight against the epidemic. It also signed a deal with the UN on the second phase of a joint programme in this connection.

Vietnam has received support from international organisations and foreign countries to stop the epidemic spreading and to minimise the number of people infected with and killed by the virus.

The joint programme of the UN and the Vietnamese Government has a budget of US$15.3 million for the fight against avian and human influenza in the country.