# 1163
Sometimes, when reading news headlines, it's hard to tell.
This morning this story is hitting the wires, with an intriguing headline, but almost no information to back it up in the article.
Bird flu virus strain in Vietnam mutates
www.chinaview.cn
2007-10-10 12:32:40
HANOI, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Bird flu virus strain in Vietnam has mutated, becoming more dangerous, local newspaper Pioneer reported Wednesday.
However, the mutation is not big enough for the virus to transmit among humans, the paper quoted Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat as saying at a meeting of the country's Anti-bird flu Central Steering Committee on Tuesday.
The vaccination among poultry is still effective in preventing the disease due to the high compatibly between the vaccine and the virus, he said.
Vietnam is encountering high risk of bird flu reoccurrence late this year, when cold weather condition is more favorable for the development of viruses, he said.
The minister has asked local relevant agencies to focus on intensifying disease surveillance, monitoring of poultry raising, transporting and trading, and vaccination among fowls nationwide.
Vietnam has detected seven bird flu patients from the five northern provinces of Vinh Phuc, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam and Ha Tay since May 10, of whom four died, according to the Preventive Medicine Department under the Vietnamese Health Ministry.
Bird flu outbreaks in Vietnam, starting in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country, according to the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
It would be nice if the reporter would tell us how the virus has mutated. You know, details. Boring to some, but occasionally helpful when evaluating the veracity of a story.
My suspicion is that the reports of mutations carried in the news last week, basically old news, was repeated by the Minister of Agriculture at their bird flu meeting, and is now being reported as `local news'.
But of course, that is just a guess on my part.
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