Over VND760 billion for bird flu control during 2019-2025
A national plan on bird flu control during 2019-2025 will have a budget of VND762 billion (over US$32.6 million), it was reported at a conference in Hanoi on October 16.
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| An animal health worker fumigates an area with poultry infected with bird flu strain A/H5N1 in An Hong commune of An Duong district, Hai Phong city |
The conference was held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to sum up the outcomes of the bird flu control national plan for 2014-2018.
The Animal Health Department under the MARD said the State coffer will provide VND51.5 billion for the plan, while localities will dole out VND711 billion from their own budgets.
Besides strengthening the monitoring of disease outbreaks, the plan aims to vaccinate at least 80% of poultry flocks and build safe poultry production chains and regions in line with recommendations of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
MARD Deputy Minister Ha Cong Tuan said bird flu has so far been under control, with only local breakouts and reduced risks of virus transmission to humans. He added that no case of bird flu infection in humans has been detected in the country since mid-2014.
Deputy Director of the Animal Health Department Dam Xuan Thanh said the country has been successful in preventing the A/H7N9 virus from entering the country, with no case of A/H7N9 virus infection detected so far.
However, he noted that there are still high risks of other types of bird flu virus entering Vietnam through provinces along the border. Disease monitoring also showed a high prevalence of A/H5N1 and A/H5N6 viruses at an average 5%.
