Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan said that an epidemic is becoming more likely in Vietnam as bird flu and influenza A infection in humans now have more complex developments in regional countries. Though an epidemic has not yet broken out, blood specimens from ducks in Hanoi's outlying district of Thanh Tri and in some households in the Mekong delta province of Ben Tre have tested positive for H5 strain, the Deputy Minister added.

The Prime Minister had ordered the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology to employ nearly US$1 million aid from the US Department of Health and Human Services to implement national-level scientific research on developing an effective vaccine against H5N1 from monkey kidney cells.

The research work has been submitted to the Scientific Council under the Ministry of Science and Technology for consideration and will be later submitted to the Scientific Council under the Ministry of Health for final approval.