Vietnam culls 180,000 birds to stop toxic bird flu outbreak

Nearly 180,000 birds have been culled in Vietnam in order to stop a massive bird flu outbreak caused by a toxic strain of H5NI virus.

The Animal Health Department noted that the outbreak has been identified in seven provinces in the country to date.

The new strain (clade 2.3.2.1c) is believed to be a mutation of the H5NI virus, which spread through poultry flocks in Vietnam in 2011, leading to mass culling in the affected regions.

Experts said that while the new virus appeared in July 2012, it spread across the northern and central regions of the country in August 2012.

Agriculture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Diep Kinh Tan was quoted by the VietnamNet online newspaper as saying that the new virus is spreading rapidly, which is a big concern for the government.

Although the source of the outbreak has not yet been determined, Vietnam Animal Husbandry Agency vice president Nguyen Thanh Son said illegal imports of poultry from China might have led to the outbreak.

Bird flu infection was reported in China in June 2012, when an analysis of 40 duck samples from Guangdong province revealed that one duck was infected with the virus.

The analysis was conducted after a two-year-old boy was confirmed with H5N1.

The Vietnam Central Veterinary Diagnosis Centre said that the new virus seems to be similar to the standard strains of H5NI virus, but is more toxic, and it plans to test existing bird flu vaccines to evaluate if they would offer protection against the new virus.

Vietnam has registered among the highest number of deaths resulting from bird flu in South-East Asia, with about 59 deaths since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

The avian influenza virus can lead to fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, conjunctivitis, and, in severe cases, breathing problems and pneumonia that may be fatal, and the virus has led to more than 330 deaths globally.

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Image: According to Vietnam officials, the new strain of H5NI virus in poultry is similar to other strains, but more toxic. Photo: Patrizio Martorana.