Vietnam culls poultry in large numbers amid bird flu spread

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, Vietnam News Agency cited the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as reporting on Wednesday.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that between early January and February 24, Vietnam had 34 bird flu outbreaks with over 100,000 poultry culled, among which 29 were A/H5N6 and the rest five 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 has passed the required period of 21 days since the last infections and been declared clear of the outbreak, Xinhua reported.

Between January and February 23, the African swine fever outbreak spread to additional 24 communes with 17,133 pigs culled, bringing the total numbers of communes, and provinces and cities hit by the outbreak to 325 and 29 respectively.

Meanwhile, the foot-and-mouth disease has hit nine provinces with a total of 2,833 cattle infected and more than 80 dead, the agency quoted the ministry as reporting.

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.