Vietnamese farmer fined for selling chickens infected with bird flu
HANOI - Authorities have fined a farmer for selling chickens infected with a strain of bird flu that has killed 20 people in Vietnam this year, state-controlled media reported Saturday. Tran Van Dung was fined 3 million dong (US$190; euro140) for selling the sick chickens at a market in Bac Lieu province, some 300 kilometers (190 miles) southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper said.
In June, local authorities discovered at a market 200 slaughtered chickens that tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, the report said. Suspecting the chickens came from Dung's farm, authorities raided his property and found chickens that had apparently died of the disease and a further 65 that had been slaughtered for sale, it said. Avian flu ravaged Asia earlier this year, killing millions of birds.
The H5N1 strain also jumped to humans, killing 32 people in Vietnam and Thailand. The World Health Organisation has repeatedly warned that if the current avian flu virus mutates it could easily lead to the next global flu pandemic.
The Associated Press - December 4, 2004
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