Vietnam declares itself free of bird flu without UN blessing
Vietnam declares itself free of bird flu without UN blessing
Margie Mason Associated Press Hanoi, Vitnam
Vietnam on Tuesday declared itself free of a deadly bird flu that killed 16 people here, despite repeated warnings from international experts that such an announcement was premature because the virus could easily resurface.
"Bird flu among poultry on the nationwide scale is over," Minister of Agriculture Le Huy Ngo said at a press conference. "All the activities of breeding, transportation, processing, circulation and consumption of poultry returns to normal."
No new outbreaks in poultry have been reported since Feb. 26. However, no explanation was given for the March 15 death of a 12- year-old boy in Tay Ninh province who tested positive for the disease. The government has not acknowledged the death, confirmed by test results at the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, saying only they are "clarifying" the case.
Vietnamese officials made ridding the country of bird flu a top priority after Prime Minister Phan Van Khai set the end of February as a deadline for eliminating the disease that has decimated poultry stocks across the region, hitting Vietnam the hardest.
The virus jumped from poultry to people here and in Thailand, killing 24 in total. It also resulted in the mass cull of some 43 million poultry in Vietnam - 15 percent of the country's stock. The avian influenza has cost Vietnam an estimated 1.3 trillion dong (US$83.9 million) in damages.
In contrast to when Vietnam won international praise for becoming the first country to declare itself free from SARS nearly a year ago, U.N. health and agriculture experts have cautioned the communist country about announcing it is clear of bird flu.
"Returning to normal without having a cautious approach and careful surveillance does bring a risk of outbreaks recurring," said WHO epidemiologist Peter Horby. "We've said all along that we recommend great caution in restocking activities because we can't be sure there's no virus remaining."
World Health Organization (WHO) and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) officials have stressed that avian influenza is a far different disease than severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed five and sickened another 58 here last year. SARS remained largely concentrated inside one hospital and all cases were traced back to one patient in Hanoi.
Bird flu, however, fanned nationwide, affecting farms in 57 of the nation's 64 cities and provinces, and experts say the virus could easily flare up again.