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Vietnam mulls raising alert level against bird flu

HANOI, March 3 (PNA/Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Health (MoH) on Friday proposed to raise alert level against the highly pathogenic bird flu to level two, after infection cases were detected in the country.

The remark was made by Vietnamese MoH Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Long at a meeting on measures to combat virulent bird flu with a high risk of transmitting to humans.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is urged to vaccinate poultry in areas with high risks of virus spreading, reported the state-run news agency VNA.

The two ministries will expand monitoring and carry out quick test in localities adjacent with China, especially in Vietnam's northern Quang Ninh, Lang Son and Lao Cai provinces.

At the same time, the MoH should coordinate with other related sectors and ministries to increase local people's awareness.

According to Long, so far, no travel warning has been issued. However, local people should consider limiting traveling to those virus-affected areas.

A report by MARD's Department of Animal Health showed that since the beginning of 2017, bird flu outbreaks are reported in Vietnam. Currently, H5N1 outbreaks were recorded in seven localities of Bac Lieu, Nam Dinh, An Giang, Soc Trang, Dong Nai, Nghe An while H5N6 outbreaks were detected in Quang Ngai province.

The report said there is a high risk that an epidemic will erupt and spread in the future. Meanwhile, viruses that have not been present in Vietnam, including H7N9, H5N2, H5N8, are likely to appear in Vietnam via transportation, purchasing and consumption of smuggled poultry and poultry products.

According to MoH's General Department of Preventive Medicine, Vietnam has reported no A/H7N9 bird flu human infection. In 2015, 2016 and early 2017, there has been no human infection of A/H5N1 virus.

In the first two months of this year, Vietnam has monitored over 900,000 passengers entering from H7N9-affected countries and found no suspected infection.

In addition, the MoH has tested 3,747 samples and found no H7N9, H5N1, H5N6 infections in human. (PNA/Xinhua)

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