A conference on avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease prevention was held in Da Nang city on January 8 chaired by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong.

Mr Bong urged central provinces and cities to immediately vaccinate all their poultry flocks and take strong measures to monitor and contain possible bird flu outbreaks after the disease recurred in southern localities.

Recent surveys showed that central provinces and cities did not control the sterilisation of poultry farms well nor the monitoring of transport, slaughter and the trading of poultry. In some central provinces such as Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Quang Tri and Quang Nam, only 60 percent of poultry flocks were vaccinated against bird flu.

The same day, a government mission led by Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Thang inspected the implementation of measures to prevent avian influenza and type A flu in humans in Quang Nam province.

**** The Chairman of Southern Bac Lieu province on January 8 agreed a decision that all poultry flocks suspected of having contracted bird flu will be culled immediately. Bac Lieu will also provide supplementary doses of vaccine for unvaccinated poultry flocks, prevent the illegal transport and trading of poultry products from the province, establish more quarantine check-points and disinfect all affected areas.

The same day, 856 ducks were culled in Bac Lieu while the total number of culled poultry heads in Hau Giang amounted to more than 2,400. So far, bird flu has been reported in 33 communes and 15 districts in Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang.

In addition, two key issues are limitations in the present vaccination of free-range ducks and shifting responsibilities among relevant organizations. If the two problems are not fully addressed, the epidemic is likely to spread throughout the country.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta region for example are used to raising free-range ducks, and are not aware of the need to vaccinate their poultry.

Diep Chan Ben, deputy director of the Bac Lieu Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said the province will strictly control and reduce the number of free-range ducks, as  well as carry out a vaccination campaign for them.

According to experts, vaccinating poultry is a basic measure to prevent poultry from contracting the disease. However, vaccination is not easy for free-range ducks, relevant authorities reported that although 97-98 percent of poultry were vaccinated, some birds have still been infected with the disease. This is a complicated problem as, theoretically speaking, vaccinated poultry should not be infected with disease.

Bird flu prevention in the Mekong Delta region has not been paid due attention. In Dong Thap province, live poultry trading  is still a common occurrence at rural markets.

Effectively preventing and fighting bird flu is an urgent task which needs close co-ordination among relevant organisations.