VietNamNet Bridge – The Veterinary Department has announced that Dong Thap is the latest province where avian influenza has returned. This is the signal for the spreading of this dangerous epidemic to many provinces in Vietnam.

According to the local veterinary agency, over 1,600 of the total 2,600 ducks of a family in Ma Quy commune, Thap Muoi district died by H5N1 virus.

In the north, a new site with bird flu has been reported in Tan Lap village, Tan Viet commune, Dong Trieu district, Quang Ninh Province.

So far this month, bird flu has attacked 15 communes in 12 districts of six provinces, including Nam Dinh, Son La and Quang Ninh in the north, Nghe An in the central region, and Can Tho and Dong Thap in the south.

The number of ill fowls is over 5,500 heads, mainly ducks and geese, of the total 19,300 heads. All of the poultry has been culled.

The Veterinary Department said that it has sent experts to provinces that are facing high risks of bird flu returning to help them prevent the epidemic.

It is alarming that the epidemic returns without apparent patterns. Normally this disease appears in the cold and wet weather but this year it occurs in the hot weather, which stirs worries of the change of the H5N1 virus in Vietnam.

However, Vice head of the Veterinary Department Hoang Van Nam said that methodical research is necessary to confirm whether the virus changes or not, which takes at least one month.

In December 2006, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sent some samples abroad for testing and the results show that H5N1 virus in Vietnam has not changed. The vaccine that Vietnam is using is still similar to H5N1 virus in the country.

Mr Nam also comments that the outbreak of the disease in Vietnam this time is perhaps due to the subjectivity and neglectfulness of local governments and people.

H. Y