VN cooperates with regional countries to control H5N1

Mr. Diệp Kỉnh Tần said the cooperation among nations is not only to curb H5N1 from jumping from poultry to people, but also many dangerous diseases from spreading among humans and animals

The statement was made at a seminar on policies on preventing and fighting H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Health Ministry, in coordination with the US Agency for International Development from April 23-25 in Hồ Chí Minh City.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diệp Kỉnh Tần said Việt Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China and Egypt will actively exchange information to jointly research the disease and prevent it from spreading to other countries.

At the seminar, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has worked with the Cambodian and Chinese sides to set up cooperation programs on disease control, including a program on producing vaccines against H5N1 for each type of the virus in each locality.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, a new variant of H5N1 virus, clade 2.3.2.1, has appeared and spread from Southeast Asia to East Europe, East Asia and South Asia in recent years, so H5N1 vaccination among poultry in some countries like Việt Nam has been no longer been really effective.

According to the ministry, some 300 million fowls have been culled in the world in the last 10 years. Among 602 H5N1 patients in the world, nearly 60% have died.

The ministry said Việt Nam spent US $201 million controlling avian flu among poultry and humans in the 2006-2010 period. The country will spent some US $384 million controlling the disease from 2011 to 2015.

By Ngọc Vân