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In Vietnam they are trying to determine why the H5N1 virus keeps popping up, sometimes in supposedly vaccinated poultry.
Suspicions have been raised that some birds may not have received proper vaccinations since lab tests on 170 chickens from the Tan Hoi Trung commune had no antibody against the H5N1 virus.
Officials are investigating and promise to take a hardline against anyone found to be undermining the system.
Doubts cast over bird flu recurrence in southern Vietnam
The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has instructed agencies concerned to probe and throw the book at those held accountable for the bird flu recurrence in a southern province.
In a dispatch sent last week to the ministry’s Agriculture Project, the Vietnam Breeding Corporation, and the Veterinary Bureau, minister Cao Duc Phat asked them to investigate why vaccinated chickens had died en masse in Dong Thap last week, calling for stringent penalties on parties involved.
The investigation findings must be reported back by July 30 at the latest.
Bird flu returned Dong Thap last Wednesday, plaguing a 400-chicken flock in Tan Hoi Trung commune and killing 20 chickens.
But these dead chickens had been presumably inoculated under a national program aimed at supporting breeders who lost their chickens to the epidemic rebuild their business.
The US$8-million scheme was sponsored by Japan, providing 10 bird flu-hit provinces with around vaccinated 500,000 chickens.
After the recurrence broke out, the Luong My shareholding company, who had been deputed to carry out the mass vaccination campaign, claimed its responsibility for “inefficient inoculation”.
The company also promised to compensate affected chicken breeders.
But it has sparked widespread doubts that whether the vaccine had been injected to the chickens.
A ministry official warned this goings-on could undermine public confidence in the project.
Latest tests conducted by the Veterinary Center Region VII confirmed around 170 chickens in the Tan Hoi Trung commune had no antibody against the H5N1 virus, suggesting they had not been inoculated.
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