Communes in southern Can Tho and northern Hung Yen provinces recently demonstrated their ability to recognise and respond to the threat of avian and pandemic influenza in humans and poultry through simulations of outbreaks in their communities.

More than 350 people in the two provinces took part in the exercise - the first of its kind conducted at the commune level in Vietnam, the US Embassy in Hanoi said on July 28 in a statement.

Funded by the US Government through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the exercise focused on the community level where the threat of avian and pandemic influenza remains, and where initial detection and response efforts are essential to limiting the impact of future outbreaks.

The project, implemented by Abt Associates, works with selected communities to develop effective and sustainable intervention models in the areas of community-based surveillance, bio-security, case management and infection control, and has strengthened networks of animal health workers and behaviour change communication.

Since 2005, the US Government has provided more than 33.5 million USD to support Vietnam’s programmes to combat avian influenza, according to the embassy./.