Bird flu could spell national disaster: PM Khai
Bird flu could spell national disaster: PM Khai
Agence France-Presse, Hanoi
Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has warned that bird flu
could spell national "disaster" and said tardy health officials
would be punished for failing to stem poultry outbreaks, the
state press said on Sunday.
"If we let a human pandemic occur, it would be a huge disaster
for the nation," Khai was quoted as saying by the communist party
newspaper Nhan Dan at a government meeting on avian influenza on
Saturday.
"The risk of a human pandemic would be very high if avian
influenza is not checked in a timely manner in the country," he
said. "The epidemic (among poultry) is continuing to break out
and become more and more serious."
Vietnam, a country of 82 million people, has suffered 42 human
deaths from bird flu -- the highest number of any country -- and
is experiencing its third avian influenza season since late 2003.
Khai also threatened disciplinary action against officials in
areas which had poorly managed the epidemic that has spread among
birds in more than a quarter of Vietnam's 64 provinces and cities
since early October.
"There has been tardiness and inefficiency in the fight
against bird flu in several localities," the premier said,
deploring poor supervision by provincial authorities.
About one million birds have been culled since early October,
and poultry markets have been shut down in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh
City and other urban centers.
Khai said the government would share with farmers the cost of
culling poultry. He also announced a bird flu information
campaign.
Vietnam has said it will spend another US$82 million to fight
bird flu. The country estimates it will need $50 million in
foreign aid, of which it has so far received $10 million.
Across Asia nearly 70 people have died of bird flu, according
to the World Health Organization, with China the latest country
to announce a fatality. Deaths have also occurred in Cambodia,
Indonesia and Thailand.
Scientists fear the virus could mutate and combine with human
flu variants, making it easily transmissible among humans and
creating a global pandemic.