Nation takes action against bird flu
HA NOI — General Secretary Nong Duc Manh expressed concern about the avian influenza epidemic in Ha Noi last Friday.
Manh was briefed by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Huy Ngo, who is also chairman of the National Steering Board for Bird Flu Control.
The Politburo of the Communist Party issued last Saturday a directive to Party Committees and organisations at all levels, which said stamping out bird flu was an urgent task.
The epidemic’s eradication, according to the directive, would help ensure sustainable and rapid socio-economic development.
The directive also advised everyone, including non-Party members, to be aware of the bird flu threat and take precautions to discourage the spread of the epidemic.
The directive also called for the resumption of poultry breeding as soon as the epidemic was eradicated. It also called on measures to detect and prevent other epidemics in the future.
It said the Viet Nam Fatherland Front and all other mass organisations were responsible for disseminating information on the bird flu.
It also called on organisations and individuals, at home and abroad, to donate funding, technical assistance and share experiences in combating the disease to help the epidemic’s victims.
Government efforts
Per the prime minister’s order, deputy prime ministers and ministers have been sent countrywide to supervise the fight against the outbreak.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan toured Ha Tay and Ha Nam provinces, while Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem visited Ha Noi and Hai Phong to supervise bird flu prevention.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is traveling in the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Hung Yen.
At a meeting last Friday, the Farmers’ Association permanent chairman, Hoang Dieu Tuyet, said five ad hoc groups were sent out to co-ordinate with various groups to contain the outbreak.
He said all of the association’s members were asked to take part in the campaign.
Ha Noi authorities have asked all households across the city to slaughter all their poultry.
Each fowl will be compensated VND15,000 if its owner declares it to an authority, or VND10,000 if it is discovered by veterinary worker.
Nearly 10 million chickens have been culled in Viet Nam.
The Japanese Government presented last Friday 30,000 Tamiflu tablets of a total of 100,000 it pledged to donate to Viet Nam to prevent the bird flu.
FAO announcement
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said last Friday it had no evidence Viet Nam’s swine were involved in the transmission of the H5N1 influenza virus.
At this time we have seen no evidence indicating pigs are in any way involved in spreading the current strain of H5N1 influenza virus, said Peter Roeder, FAO’s veterinary virologist and animal health expert.
FAO is aware of two research projects carried out in Viet Nam this year. An authoritative study, by Professor Robert Webster, Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Laboratory on Animal Influenza in Hong Kong, found no evidence about the presence of H5N1 virus in swine.
"Right now, there is no justification for saying there is H5N1 virus infection in pigs in Viet Nam," said Professor Webster, "at this stage nothing has been proven," he added.
"Until either a virus is isolated from within an animal or there are antibodies to show infection the question of transmission remains wide open," he stressed.
Webster’s investigation on pigs living in close proximity to infected poultry produced no evidence of transmission between the two species, although virologists have known for many years that influenza viruses can pass between species, including swine and poultry.
FAO will continue to monitor and investigate the situation closely and will inform countries if there is any reason to believe that the situation is changing. – VNS
