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Officials fear bird flu epidemic in Vietnam
2007-05-30
The list of bird-flu hit areas in Vietnam has become longer with the latest outbreaks in two more northern provinces as officials said Wednesday they worry the deadly virus will not stop spreading. Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc provinces have reported a total of about 1,300 ducks had died of H5N1, while the rest of more than 7,200 bird flocks had been culled, according to the official website of the Hanoi-based animal health department. So far, bird flu has hit mainly unvaccinated poultry in 12 provinces across Vietnam, mostly in the north. "At present, the situation of the epidemic is very complicated. The risk is high for it to continue and spread on a larger scale," said Minister of Agriculture Cao Duc Phat in a message to local authorities. He called for urgent measures to deal with the situation, including the launching of a communication campaign to raise people's awareness on the danger of bird flu to poultry flocks and to humans. "It definitely shows to everyone that people must remain vigilant," said Dida Connor, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) spokeswoman in Hanoi. However, WHO still believed the situation was "not alarming", she added. Vietnam's first human bird flu patient in 18 months, a 30-year-old man from Vinh Phuc province, was improving, said a doctor from Hanoi's Bach Mai hospital where the patient is under treatment. "He has got much much better," she said. "But I can not tell when he will be discharged." Between 2003 and November 2005, Vietnam was one of countries worst hit by bird flu, with 42 deaths. The country, however, won international applause for its transparency and effectiveness in curbing the epidemic.
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