Vietnam Vaccinates 35 Million Birds Against Avian Flu

Text of report in English by Vietnamese news agency VNA website

Hanoi, 12 October: As many as 35 million fowls in Vietnam had been inoculated against avian influenza by the end of September, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Veterinary Department has reported.

The Veterinary Department said it has registered to import 260 million doses of vaccine to help localities carry out mass vaccination for their poultry in October and November. Last month, it distributed 120 million doses to these localities.

The Department also reported that imported vaccines for the poultry vaccination drive will come three weeks later than scheduled so it ordered provinces and cities that plan to start the second round of vaccination in October to revise their plans and inoculate poultry in the risk areas first.

The National Steering Committee for Avian Influenza Prevention and Control asked localities to reinforce preventive measures to prevent a recurrence of bird flu, particularly the disinfection of poultry farms, slaughter-houses and markets along with strictly implementing vaccination programmes for poultry.