Bird flu has hit 22 provinces and cities across the country with over 80,000 infected chickens culled, according to the latest statistics from the National Steering Committee on Bird Flu Prevention and Control.

At a press conference held in Hanoi on March 4, the committee said that outbreaks of the H5N1 strand of bird flu have mainly been reported in poultry raised on farms, and promptly handled.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has deployed missions to inspect and guide bird flu prevention in localities with complicated outbreaks, such as central Khanh Hoa and southern Tra Vinh, provinces which have reported a large number of affected poultry.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam asked localities to quarantine outbreak areas for disinfection while combating the legal cross-border trade of poultry to closely control any spread of the more dangerous H7N9 strand of the virus, which has yet to be uncovered in Vietnam according to the Animal Health Department.

Samples for testing must be taken as quickly as possible in order to ensure effective vaccination is implemented, he added.

Communication activities should be promoted to raise the public awareness on fighting the epidemic, Tam argued.

The department is completing papers to import an additional 60 million doses of H5N1 vaccine, the conference heard.-VNA