Vietnam’s Prime Minister has issued an official dispatch focusing on drastic and synchronous solutions to control and prevent avian influenza virus spreading to humans across the country.

So far, Vietnam has culled more than 100,000 fowl since the beginning of 2021, following 40 avian flu outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 and H5N6 bird flu strains in 14 cities and provinces.

Vietnam has culled more than 100,000 fowl since the beginning of 2021. Photo: Trung Kien

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the disease broke out early last month, mainly in small-scale livestock farms where the birds are not vaccinated.

In the dispatch, the prime minister asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work with the Ministry of Health on measures prevent and control the outbreak of avian influenza viruses, which can infect humans.

Besides, the two ministries must evaluate the effectiveness of the existing avian flu vaccines produced in Vietnam and imported avian flu vaccines to promptly have recommendations and instructions for use.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has been requested to produce, import, test to evaluate the effectiveness and license new avian flu vaccines and preventive vaccines against avian influenza viruses which can attack Vietnam (including strains A/H5N8, A/H5N5).

The avian flu outbreaks have been detected in 14 localities, including Hanoi and Quang Ninh in the north and some other localities in southern and central Vietnam, the ministry said, stressing that the risk for the outbreaks to spread on a larger scale is very high.

Of Vietnam’s flock of 460 million fowl, around 133,000 were culled in 2019 due to avian flu outbreaks, the ministry said.

It has advised people against feeding themselves with poultry of unknown origin and especially against eating fowl blood pudding, a Vietnamese specialty prepared with raw blood.

The two avian flu virus strains, H5N6 and H5N1, that have been detected in the ongoing outbreaks spread from poultry to humans through contact with infected feces or other bodily fluids, and can prove fatal.