New bird flu case hits Khanh Hoa

18:07' 20/02/2009 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - Bird flu has emerged in central Khanh Hoa Province, raising the number of provinces hit by bird flu to ten, according to the animal health department. Nguyen Van Trung’s unvaccinated ducks and fowls tested positive yesterday for the H5N1 virus in Khanh Hoa Province’s Vinh Phuong Commune. Officials are worried because 10 days ago, upon realising that three fowls had died with virus symptoms, Trung’s six-member family and their guests ate them all. Trung threw other fowls away as they continued to die without informing local officials, according to the province’s animal health department. Finally when 22 fowls had died he informed the department. Yesterday, the locality decontaminated Vinh Phuong Commune and checked the health of people who had eaten the contaminated birds. The Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee also asked other localities to strictly supervise livestock breeding farms to facilitate quick discovery of, and solutions to, epidemic outbreaks. Bird flu has recently broken out in some Cuu Long delta provinces, primarily infecting flocks of free-range ducks, according to the region’s animal health departments. Professor Vo Tong Xuan, former rector of An Giang University, said free-range ducks could carry the bird flu virus to disease-free provinces as they move to eat from harvested rice paddy fields. Anti virus cloth coming "Healthy people without protective clothing and masks who come within one metre of an infected bird are at high risk of contamination," said Tran Tinh Hien, deputy director of HCM City Tropical Disease Hospital. Not all fowls stricken with the virus show the symptoms, so it is necessary for people to be equipped with anti-virus clothes, according to Hien. An anti viral fibre called Flutect, which can reduce bird flu risk by 99.9 per cent even after 50 washings, has just been introduced to Viet Nam. Flutect can be used effectively to make protective clothes, gloves and masks for people frequently in contact with fowls. It has been licensed by Japan’s National Research Institute and is already commonly used in Japan and Indonesia. Provinces with confirmed cases of bird flu include: Khanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa, Thai Nguyen, Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Nghe An, Hau Giang, Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh and Quang Tri. Approximately 30,000 fowls have been culled.