On the afternoon of November 26, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem co-chaired a meeting with various ministries and sectors to discuss solutions for combating avian influenza in the new situation.
According to the latest report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from the beginning of October to November 22, avian influenza has broken out in 292 households across 174 communes and wards in 77 districts of 22 provinces and cities nationwide.
Localities have destroyed nearly 1.3 million poultry. In terms of epidemic developments, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development noted that in the South, the outbreak has re-emerged in Long An, but no new outbreaks have occurred in the past 10 days.
In Central Vietnam, the outbreak continues in Thanh Hoa; in the North, outbreaks have occurred in several mountainous provinces such as Son La and Cao Bang. Some provinces with previous outbreaks, such as Hai Duong, Hai Phong, and Bac Ninh, still allow the disease to spread in their areas.
Currently, localities with outbreaks have implemented strong measures to extinguish the epidemic, quarantine affected areas, organize the destruction of poultry, disinfect, and set up control posts to monitor poultry leaving infected areas. Localities without outbreaks continue vaccination efforts, increase disinfection, control the entry and exit of poultry, and educate the public on preventive measures.
In light of the current developments of the epidemic, the Ministry of Health emphasizes that protecting human life is paramount.
In concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung clearly stated that the situation of avian influenza and human influenza pandemic in our country remains very complex. It is essential to continue public awareness campaigns to understand the level of danger and the unpredictable harms if human influenza occurs. Therefore, it is necessary to remain calm and proactively implement effective epidemic prevention measures.
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Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung |
According to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, localities need to proactively reduce their poultry numbers, especially in cities and urban areas, by not selling chicks and not allowing egg incubation. Additionally, localities should take appropriate measures for slaughtering and destroying poultry while ensuring strict quarantine, controlling transportation, and trading of poultry, all with the highest goal of protecting the safety of human life.
The Deputy Prime Minister suggested considering the possibility of culling the national poultry population, which exceeds 200 million birds. Currently, culling is only being implemented in urban areas, densely populated areas, and industrial zones. If the entire national poultry population were to be culled, it would cost no more than 450 billion VND reserved for vaccination against influenza. Previously, in many meetings organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, leaders from various provinces had raised concerns about the potential waste of resources, as large-scale vaccination was followed by culling.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also assigned specific tasks to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Science and Technology in the production of vaccines and ventilators to aid in combating avian influenza and human influenza pandemics.
Effective hygiene practices can eradicate the epidemic
For many months, the country has been on high alert due to the threat posed by avian influenza (H5N1), which has caused significant material losses and affected the community’s psyche. Experts believe that the threat of an outbreak of the H5N1 virus type A in our country is real, but scientifically, eliminating it is not overly difficult if we have a thorough understanding of this virus strain and unite to prevent it effectively.
Dr. Nguyen Van Vang, Director of the Livestock Institute (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), reaffirmed that the H5N1 influenza virus is quickly destroyed at temperatures above 70°C or in alkaline environments. Therefore, vigorous isolation measures and standard disinfection practices have been able to safeguard hundreds of thousands of poultry in all research and development centers under the Institute, located in various regions, including those with outbreaks, since 2003.
An expert with nearly 50 years of experience in veterinary medicine stated that the emergence of some disease outbreaks today is a consequence of the neglect of veterinary work in our country in the past. However, if we remain calm now, enhance our veterinary capabilities, and especially motivate and guide farmers on effective hygiene practices, we can entirely eliminate the flu outbreak and protect the poultry population within a short period.
Specifically, effective disease prevention must be organized seriously from the grassroots level, especially in key areas at high risk of outbreaks. All villages, hamlets, and communes should sign commitments to adhere to the “5 no’s” (do not let poultry roam freely, do not buy or sell sick poultry, do not consume sick poultry or poultry of unknown origin, do not hide outbreaks, do not dispose of dead poultry indiscriminately).
Moreover, there must be organized disinfection and sanitation measures in poultry farms, live poultry trading areas, slaughtering facilities, and entry and exit routes to livestock areas. The current situation of small-scale poultry farming should be reduced, and these households must be required to confine their poultry (which can be within their home gardens but must be protected by solid fences, preventing contact with sick birds or poultry from other areas). Birds infected with H5N1 influenza must be decisively culled.
Ba Ria – Vung Tau: Many households register to import breeding poultry
Currently, there is a peculiar phenomenon where poultry farmers across the country are struggling due to the avian flu, with unsold poultry, yet in the past few days, dozens of poultry farmers in Chau Duc, Tan Thanh, and Xuyen Moc districts of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province have eagerly gone to the local veterinary department to register for importing breeding poultry for the upcoming Lunar New Year market.
Most of those applying to raise poultry have experienced the flu outbreak. Some households in Chau Duc district (which has one of the largest aquaculture operations in the province) have up to 4,000 unsold birds but are still applying to buy more chicks to take a “gamble” during Tet, believing that the market might “thaw” by then and they could hit it big since few people would dare to raise poultry! The local veterinary department reported that as of November 24, the total number of poultry registered for import was about 100,000, including 50,000 from contract farms for a joint-stock company.
Mr. Ky Huu Minh, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, recently expressed his opinion that developing the poultry population at this time is not advisable; it is best to focus on effective disease prevention measures and find ways to consume the poultry that are ready for market. Increasing the poultry population now would add pressure to disease prevention efforts and carry many risks for farmers.
Meanwhile, at poultry farms housing between 5,000 and 17,000 birds in Tan Hoa and Toc Tien communes (Tan Thanh district), birds continue to die and increasingly show signs of starvation, while farm owners are exhausted, waiting for buyers who have yet to appear.
Hue establishes a “task force” to eliminate pigeons
In Hue city, just two days after its establishment (from November 22 to November 24), the city’s “task force” to eliminate pigeons has caught and shot down over 200 pigeons that were hovering in the sky and roosting in temples. The Hue Veterinary Department reported that approximately 1,300 pigeons were flying and roosting throughout the city. The task force, composed of police officers working together with health and veterinary forces, is responsible for culling and managing the environment after shooting the pigeons.
The People’s Committee of Thua Thien-Hue province has issued a directive requiring the People’s Committees of districts and Hue city to promptly implement measures to prohibit poultry farming in urban areas and manage the poultry currently being raised in prohibited areas. The city is also expediting procedures and conditions to establish centralized slaughter facilities.
Many volunteers willing to test H5N1 vaccine for humans
Immediately after the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology announced that Vietnam has successfully produced an H5N1 vaccine for humans, many people registered on an online newspaper to volunteer for vaccine trials, hoping to help Vietnamese scientists complete their research and production of a vaccine against avian influenza. These volunteers come from various provinces and cities nationwide, with many being students and unmarried individuals. All of them trust in the capabilities of Vietnamese scientists.
China assists Vietnam in combating avian influenza
As part of the cooperation in combating avian influenza between the two countries, the Chinese government has provided Vietnam with a non-refundable grant of 1.5 million yuan to support transportation costs for Chinese enterprises. This funding ensures the timely delivery of avian influenza vaccines purchased by Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City.
The Vietnamese government has expressed its gratitude for the assistance provided by the Chinese government.
