Vietnam on Thursday started to vaccinate fowls in northern Nam Dinh province against bird flu viruses, a Vietnamese spokesman said at a regular press briefing.

The country is vaccinating poultry in northern Nam Dinh province and southern Tien Giang province on a trial basis this month, Le Dung, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said.

The pilot program is scheduled to conclude by the end of this month, he added. The vaccines are imported mainly from China.

"Bird flu outbreaks occurred in some localities, so we've planned to expand the vaccination to an addition of 15 provinces and cities nationwide in September," he said, noting that the veterinary department Thursday opened a workshop on vaccination preparation for fowls in Ho Chi Minh City and southern Mekong Delta provinces.

According to local veterinary agencies, up to 70 percent of waterfowls in Vietnam's southern Mekong delta have been tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1. The country culled 4,620 poultry, mainly ducks and chickens, after they detected small outbreaks of bird flu in Hanoi and the three southern localities of Can Tho, Ben Tre and Dong Thap last month.

Vietnam's Health Ministry has confirmed that the country had detected three human cases of bird flu infections, including two fatalities, last month. Since late 2003, up to 90 local people in 31 cities and provinces have been infected with H5N1, of whom 40 have died.

Source: Xinhua