Veterinarians were dispatched to disinfect the farmer’ farms and instruct his family members to implement personal hygienic measures against the spread of bird flu to humans. Local authorities also isolated his farms and adjacent areas for chemical disinfection.

Bird flu checkpoints were established immediately to prevent local farmers from transporting infected chickens and ducks from Vinh Tuy commune to neighbouring communes.

Earlier, bird flu broke out in the southern provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang, leading to the cull of more than 42,000 poultry.  

Bird flu likely to worsen
The same day, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong warned that bird flu is likely to worsen as many localities have not paid due attention to vaccinating their poultry flocks. He said only a few provinces have been carrying out additional vaccination against bird flu for their poultry.

The deputy minister added that the Veterinary Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has already provided localities with 4 million doses of vaccine against H5N1 typed avian influenza and will import an additional 250 million doses for different types of fowls to meet the demand.

Bird flu control campaign launched
The Ministry of Health and the Vietnam Red Cross jointly launched a nation-wide campaign in the northern province of Ha Nam on January 9 to curb the spread of bird flu among both poultry and humans in the wake of epidemic recurrence in several Mekong Delta provinces.

Epidemiologists warned that the current windy and low humidity weather creates favourable conditions for the H5N1 virus to transmit from birds to humans.

The Ministry of Health asked its staff and veterinarians to keep a close watch on formerly bird flu infected areas and take immediate action to deal with new outbreaks.