03/01/2006
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked southern provinces to take strong measures to prevent recurrences of bird flu, especially the vaccination of newly-hatched poultry, according to a report by the Vietnam News Agency.
The agency reports that Dung criticized leaders of several provinces for not thoroughly vaccinating poultry against bird flu, which resulted in new outbreaks last week.
The outbreaks killed and led to the culling of tens of thousands of fowl in Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Hau Giang provinces.
Four people in Bac Lieu and two in Soc Trang provinces were hospitalized with symptoms of bird flu, reports MeatNews.
Dung reportedly insisted that the three provinces quickly isolate affected farms and destroy infected poultry to prevent the disease from spreading to humans. He also is said to have told them to strengthen surveillance of poultry farms to detect outbreaks early and intensify disinfections and detoxification of farms.
He said the government would provide funds for the seven localities to help them in the fight against bird flu and ask relevant agencies to supply sufficient vaccines for these localities to conduct inoculations for all of their poultry.
