Wild birds suddenly die in Vietnam's southern province
HANOI - Thirty cormorants in a bird sanctuary in Vietnam's southern Dong Thap province have suddenly died recently, prompting the local authorities to close all wild bird eco-tourism sites, local media reported Tuesday.
The black cormorants died in Gao Giong, one of most famous eco-tourism sites in the Mekong Delta, and their specimens are being tested for bird flu viruses, newspaper Youth quoted Duong Nghia Quoc, vice director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, as saying.
The provincial authorities will officially order to close all wild bird sanctuaries, including the national park of Tram Chim, the stork garden of My An, and the two eco-tourism sites of Gao Giong and Xeo Quyt, to prevent potential bird flu spread to humansas well as protect the birds.
Recently, Vietnam's two biggest localities, Hanoi capital and southern Ho Chi Minh City, ordered residents in their inner areas not to raise ornamental birds after Nov. 15 and Nov. 30, respectively.
Early this month, the Vietnamese government decided to cease import of all kinds of poultry, including ornamental birds, and related products, which have not undergone temperature or chemical treatment, from bird flu-hit countries.
Since Oct. 1, bird flu has been detected in 85 communes of 14 localities, killing and leading to the forced culling of nearly 440,000 fowls, according to Vietnam's Veterinary Department.
Vietnam has detected 65 human cases of bird flu infections, including 22 fatalities, in 25 cities and provinces since December 2004, the Health Ministry announced on Nov. 15, noting that the accumulated numbers of bird flu infections and fatalities since December 2003 are 92 and 42, respectively.
The government has just decided to allocate additional 1,306 billion Vietnamese dong (VND) (over 82.6 million US dollars) for combating bird flu outbreaks in humans this year.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance, on Nov. 10, said it ensureda budget of 4,915 billion VND (nearly 311.1 million dollars) to realize an urgent plan to cope with bird flu in humans, including more than 1,000 billion VND (nearly 63.3 million US dollars) to beused from now to the end of this year for the prevention.
Xinhuanet - November 17, 2005.
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