Vietnam's largest city resumes poultry sales
HANOI - Vietnam has lifted a ban on the sale of poultry in its largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, after a bird flu outbreak that killed 15 people, but shoppers were cautious.
The sale of cooked poultry and eggs could resume on Friday but the sale of live birds was still banned, said an official from the animal health department in the city of 10 million people.
Vietnam, which slaughtered 38 million birds to try to eradicate the bird flu, said this week the epidemic had been contained and it hoped to declare it over by the end of March.
Ho Chi Minh City is the first centre to resume the sale of poultry, a popular dish in Vietnam, since the epidemic erupted in December. The death toll across Asia is at least 22.
Chicken and ducks were still hard to find in the city's main market, Tran Chanh Chieu, on Friday. Many poultry traders have turned to selling fruit and flowers because of the poultry ban.
"I am eager to eat chicken but I will not buy it from street vendors as I am not confident the chicken is clean," said a young housewife in the city. "I'd rather buy from a proper store such as a supermarket."
The government has said an area can be declared free from bird flu 30 days after the cull of its last infected poultry.
Reuters - March 05, 2004.
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