MARD greenlights new bird flu plan
The five-year plan, designed to
step-by-step curb the spread of bird flu nationwide, is expected to be
the foundation to rid the country of the highly pathogenic avian bird
flu by 2018, Tam said.
The plan, given the thumbs-up on March 13, calls for reducing the number of bird-flu prone areas nationwide.
Under
the plan, about 80 percent of the provinces and cities throughout the
country would become areas with a low risk of being struck by the bird
flu virus by 2018, while the H5N1 bird flu virus would be completely
eliminated in all localities in the south-east region by 2018.
According
to Tam, the State budget for the plan was estimated to be greater than
132 billion VND (6.2 million USD), with local budgets adding about 583
billion VND (27.4 million USD).
The ministry assigned its
Department of Animal Health to take responsibility to closely work with
localities to carry out the plan, he said.
Statistics from the
department showed that 14 provinces and cities have reported outbreaks
of bird flu so far this year, including Ca Mau, Dong Nai, Hai Duong,
Hung Yen, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa and Soc Trang.
The department said that local authorities discovered and took prompt actions to control the outbreaks.
A
large number of poultry were destroyed after contracting the bird flu
virus in the provinces of Khanh Hoa and Tra Vinh, the department said.
Teams from the department were sent to the localities to assist in controlling the outbreaks.-VNA