The despatch noted the complex developments in the spread of bird flu and influenza type A H5N1 on humans, both globally and in Vietnam.

So far this year, the bird flu epidemic has struck 11 communes in 10 districts of seven provinces in Vietnam and is threatening to spread even further. Two cases of human victims of H5N1-type bird flu have already been detected. It has been claimed that farmers and local authorities were not fully aware of the facts surrounding the dangerous disease and did not pay due attention to preventing its spread, resulting in a failure to discover and deal with the epidemic in time.

For the timely control of bird flu epidemics and to prevent the risk of the disease spreading to humans, the PM requested the chairmen of the People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities to instruct the local authorities, relevant agencies, residents and farmers to urgently carry out preventative measures.

An information campaign is necessary in order to raise public awareness of the dangers posed by bird flu in order to proactively prevent the spread of the disease and protect the health of the people.

The Prime Minister also instructed affected localities to release details of any epidemic, conduct a thorough examination of the affected locality, systematically disinfect the area and vaccinate all nearby poultry against the disease.

He asked for an acceleration in the research, production and testing of vaccines against the H5N1 strain of the disease.

Further Reading

-

You can visit the Avian Flu page by clicking here.