Officials on April 26 raided a wholesale poultry market in Hanoi, inan effort to prevent the smuggling of poultry from China.
The move aims to prevent the transmission of the new and deadly strainof bird flu, A/H7N9 virus, which has killed at least 22 people inChina and infected about 108 people.
The visit involvedDeputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, Minister of Agriculture andRural Development Cao Duc Phat and Deputy Head of the Government OfficeNguyen Khac Dinh.
They visited Ha Vi, the largest wholesalemarket for poultry in Hanoi located in Thuong Tin district. About30-40 tonnes of poultry pass through the market daily.
Thenumber of staff monitoring the situation has been increased three timessince the Prime Minister instruction on April 15 spoke out aboutcontrolling the new flu.
Poultry to the market are onlyallowed to enter through two gates. Cameras record events 24 hours aday. All vehicles transporting poultry into the market must presentveterinary certificates for the goods they carry.
According toMinister Phat, his ministry is planning to standardise veterinarycertificates nationwide and enforce the works of agriculture inspectors.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has askedauthorities in seven provinces bordering China to halt theimportation of poultry, eggs, poultry breeding stock and poultry-relatedproducts.
The ministry has forbidden all types of poultry trade at border gates and between residents of the two countries.
It has also banned sales of these products at markets located at theborders and in border economic zones. In addition, the Government isalso testing nests of salangane (sometimes called swift) in areas wherethe birds are raised. This action came after reports of sick birds incentral Vietnam.
The Health Ministry's Department of AnimalHealth tested 145 salangane nests and 120 samples of droppings. All butone sample tested negative for the H5N1 virus.
A total of 10,000 salanganes have been destroyed and 160 kilos of their nests heat treated nationwide.
As the weather changes, the risk of contagious diseases like A/H1N1,H5N1 and H7N9 spreading increases. Provinces nationwide including LaiChau, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang, Ha Nam, Bac Lieu and Tien Giang haveactively tightened the quarantine, slaughter, hygiene, trade andtransport of poultry.
So far, no H7N9 cases have been recorded in Vietnam.-VNA