HANOI, Feb 26 (NNN-VNA) – More than 100,000 poultry have been culled in 10 provinces and cities of Vietnam, where A/H5N6 and A/H5N1 bird flu broke out, the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported today (Wednesday).
The Ministry said, between early Jan and Feb 24, Vietnam had 34 bird flu outbreaks with over 100,000 poultry culled, among which 29 were A/H5N6 and the rest were A/H5N1, in 10 provinces and cities of Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Tra Vinh, Thai Binh, Binh Duong, Ninh Binh, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh. Among them, Quang Ninh passed the required period of 21 days, since the last infections and been declared clear of the disease.
Between Jan and Feb 23, the African swine fever outbreak spread to additional 24 communes with 17,133 pigs culled, bringing the total number of communes, and provinces and cities hit by the outbreak to 325 and 29 respectively. Meanwhile, the foot-and-mouth disease hit nine provinces, with a total of 2,833 cattle infected and more than 80 dead, the ministry reported.
Vietnam’s livestock population and animal husbandry density have seen a significant increase, yet the majority is of small-scale and scattered farms. Meanwhile, the low rate of vaccination along with the unfavourable change of the weather poses challenges in the disease prevention and control.
In 2019, bird flu outbreak was detected in 41 districts of 24 provinces and cities nationwide, with more than 133,000 culled, according to the Ministry.– NNN-VNA
