Bird flu has recurred in a number of many localities and is likely to spread to many others, Hoang Van Nam, deputy head of the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed at a meeting with the National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Prevention and Control on May 22.

Less than a month since May 1, bird flu has broken out in 13 communes of 10 districts in 5 provinces and cities of Quang Ninh, Can Tho, Son La, Nam Dinh and Nghe An. Three bird flu outbreaks in the three districts of Vu Ban, Nam Truc and My Loc in northern Nam Dinh province killed hundreds of chickens.

Can Tho City is making a great effort to stamp out the disease. Nguyen Thanh An, a farmer in Tan Lap hamlet, Thach Loc commune, Vinh Thanh district admitted that two months ago he had spent more than VND60 million on raising nearly 1,500 ducks but did not vaccinate the fowl. Recently, when his family noticed ducks dying in large numbers they reported it to the veterinary department who came to cull the fowl. On May 18, blood tests from ducks showed positive results for H5N1. His family is now very worried about catching the disease themselves.

In an effort to eradicate the disease, the veterinary sector in Vinh Thach district has so far disinfected the areas of Tan Lap hamlet, monitored the development of the disease and sped up the implementation of the second round of vaccinations. In the first round, however, 90 percent of the district's 400,000 birds were vaccinated. Now in the second round only 70 percent have been reached so far and it will be very difficult to complete the vaccination by May 25.

The total number of poultry in Can Tho is more than two million. One of the main reasons for the recurrence of bird flu in the city is that localities have not paid due attention to vaccination work. Therefore, the disease has recurred even in hot weather.

The preventive health department on May 22 sent an urgent message to local health stations to co-ordinate with veterinary agencies in checking and preventing human infections as well as cleaning up the environment.

The respiratory department of Bach Mai hospital is currently treating a male patient with suspected type A H5N1 virus infection. The first test showed positive to the H5N1 virus. If the same results occur in the second test, he will be the first bird flu patient to be recorded in Vietnam since the last one was detected on November 2005.

Bird flu has been detected in poultry in some localities. However, Vietnam has not recorded a case of H5N1 human transmission in the last 17 months.