Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Inthe first three months of the year, 487 incidences were reported in China,including 99 fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health.
Asof March 21, the A (H7N9) virus had not infected either poultry or people in Vietnam,but it could break out if preventive methods are not carried out well.
TheHCM City People’s Committee, for instance, has issued an action plan for theprevention throughout the city this year.
Inthe plan, the municipal People’s Committee has instructed the Food Safety andHygiene Management Board to take the initiative in co-operating with agenciesto strengthen supervision and inspection of poultry at canteens in industrialparks and export processing zones, schools, restaurants, and food stores in thecity.
Violatorswho use or sell poultry without label of origin will be fined, the committeesaid.
TheDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development is expected to work with local authoritiesand other agencies on the surveillance of transport, trade, consumption andimport of poultry.
Asof now, the illegal trading of poultry has occurred at 159 sites, according tothe committee.
HaTan Vinh, from the Can Tho Department of Health’s medical affairs division,told the Viet Nam News Agency that the Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment had devised a plan on the use of vaccines against avian influenza.
Thefree vaccine provision will be divided into three phases, including one fromFebruary 15 to March 5, the second from June 15 to July 5, and the last fromOctober 1 to 10.
InCa Mau province, Nguyen Thanh Dan, head of the province’s Preventive HealthCentre, said that training and preventive methods against avian influenza hasbeen carried out well.
Dansaid the province has warned farmers to take preventive methods against thevirus.
Inmid-March, the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment organised a drill for A/H7N9 prevention in Lang Son province and Hanoi.
PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has also banned the illegal import of poultry throughborder gates.
Hesaid that people from A/H7N9 virus-affected countries such as China should beunder close surveillance at the border gates.
Ifthe presence of A/H7N9 virus is detected at markets, solutions to eradicatecontaminated food should be implemented.
In2013, the A/H7N9 virus was found in animals and people in China, according tothe World Health Organisation.
Thisstrain of avian influenza is of concern because infected people have becomeseverely ill.
Mostof the cases of human infection with the A/H7N9 virus have reported recentexposure to live poultry or potentially contaminated environments, especiallymarkets where live birds have been sold.
Thisvirus does not appear to transmit easily from person to person.
SinceFebruary 2013, 1,230 incidences of avian influenza A/H7N9 in China, Canada andMalaysia have been reported, including 428 fatalities, according to theDepartment of Animal Health under Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.
Challenges
TrinhHung Cuong, deputy head of the Animal Health and Husbandry Agency, said that HauGiang province faced difficulties in inspection and monitoring of transportingand selling chickens because of a shortage of personnel.
Theprovince lacks funds to hire people to provide vaccinations against influenzain poultry.
Theweather had become hotter in the daytime, but colder at night, Cuong said,adding that the temperature difference had contributed to lowering theresistance of chickens to viruses.
Smallchicken breeding farms are common in the province.
Manypeople in the districts of Long My, Vi Thuy and Chau Thanh A breed free rangechickens without asking permission from local authorities, according to Cuong.
Thechickens have not been vaccinated as required.
Moreover,in the case of influenza outbreak among chickens, farmers have not reportedcases to local authorities. They often kill and throw the chickens into theriver, leading to an increase in the risk of transmission.
Ata conference held last month in Can Tho, Nguyen Ngoc He, head of the Can ThoDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that breeding ducks undera free range model in rice fields was common in the city.
Districtsand wards in the city have not paid sufficient attention to the management ofbreeding and implementation of preventive methods, He said.-VNA
VNA
