VietNamNet Bridge - Fifty Vietnamese veterinarians, working in regional and provincial government offices, will be trained this year under a new program to enhance their ability to effectively control, detect, and respond to outbreaks of avian influenza, it was announced on March 13.

The Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training Program (AVET), which is supported by the U.S. government through its Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.N. Joint Program in Vietnam, will provide the vets with three months of theoretical and practical instruction to improve their skills.

With technical support from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Vietnam Avian Influenza Program and the Department of Animal Health, AVET will equip field vets in disease surveillance, control and prevention, and outbreak investigation and response.

Following instruction at the AVET Training Center, the veterinarians, joined by their mentors, will apply what they learned in their regions and provinces.

Vietnam is one of the countries most affected by the highly pathogenic avian influenza caused by the H5N1 virus. Over the past four years, the country has suffered millions of dollars in economic losses due to outbreaks in poultry. 

Although government leadership has been successful in significantly reducing the number of outbreaks, the virus continues to circulate in the country’s poultry population.

Officials are very concerned as avian flu can be transmitted from animals to humans. 

Experts are also concerned that the virus could mutate into a strain that is transmissible between humans, potentially causing a global influenza pandemic. Since 2003, Vietnam has had 109 human H5N1 cases, resulting in 54 deaths.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, avian flu outbreaks have occurred in 11 provinces so far this year. 

Since 2005, USAID has provided Vietnam $27.5 million for avian influenza prevention and control.

VietNamNet/SGGP