Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan said at a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Bird Flu Prevention and Control that the country needs to reinforce its monitoring measures and raise awareness among people.

According to experts, since the risk of bird flu is still high, treatment units should be on duty around the clock in order to treat possible cases related to human influenza type-A (H5N1) across the country in a timely manner.

The Central Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology warned that normal influenza might easily break out between March and April with type-A virus strains such as H3N1 and H1N1 as well as other type-B virus strains.

Health experts said that all people, particularly old people, children and patients of chronic diseases, should be vaccinated for normal influenza.

The National Steering Committee on Bird Flu also requested mass media organisations to spread information about human influenza type-A in ethnic languages for people in remote areas of the northern mountainous region, the Central Highlands and the Mekong River Delta.