~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam starts cleaning campaign to fight bird flu

HANOI - Vietnam started a month-long campaign to clean up farms and try to wipe out the bird flu virus that has killed dozens of people across in the country in the past year. The campaign would focus on "cleaning up poultry farms and cages in all provinces and cities to stop the type A flu virus from spreading," said the Ministry of Health. According to officials, the campaign will be implemented in every village and will be strictly monitored.

"We started implementing the clean-up campaign Friday morning with our communal animal health departments responsible for monitoring," said Nguyen Duy Long, head of the Animal Health Department in southern Long An province, one of the country's worst-hit areas. However, not all parts of the country were aware of the campaign, despite the central government's efforts. In Chau Hoa commune in central Quang Binh province, where local media reported about 200 cases of respiratory illness and a five-year-old boy recently tested positive for bird flu, local officials said they knew nothing about the campaign.

"We have not received any information (from the district authorities) about the decision to quarantine cages and farms throughout the country," Phan Huy Hoang, the commune's deputy chairperson told AFP. Anton Rychener, representative in Vietnam of the United nations Food and Agriculture Organization, said he had doubts about how the country could actually implement the campaign. "They will ask provinces and districts to do it on their own without any fundings from the central level," he said. "If the (local authorities) are competent, they'll allocate funds and do it. If not, they just won't," he added.

"Many people complain to us that they are actually left alone." Thirty-five of the country's 64 provinces and cities have been hit by the virus this year. According to a daily report by the Agriculture Ministry, 28 of them haven't reported any new outbreaks for more than 21 days. Health experts have warned the H5N1 virus could lead to a pandemic if it mutates into a form which can be easily transmitted between humans. The bird flu virus has killed so far 14 Vietnamese, 12 Thais and two Cambodians.

Agence France Presse - March 31, 2005