Vietnam is spending around 446.6 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 28.3 million US dollars) on vaccinating 160 million poultry against bird flu viruses in the 2005-2006 period, a top veterinary official said.

In the next two months, the country will start to vaccinate fowls in 48 cities and provinces with high risks of bird flu outbreaks, including those in the northern Red River Delta and the southern Mekong Delta, local newspaper Youth on Friday quoted head of the Vietnam's Veterinary Department Bui Quang Anh as saying.

All chickens in the deltas will be vaccinated three times each year in the 2005-2006 period, Quang said, adding all ducks in the localities plus central coastal provinces are to undergo vaccination.

Now, Vietnam is vaccinating poultry in northern Nam Dinh province and southern Tien Giang province on a trial basis. The pilot program is expected to conclude by the end of this month. The vaccines are imported mainly from China.

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

Since late 2003, up to 90 local people in 31 cities and provinces of Vietnam have been infected with H5N1, of whom 40 have died, the country's Health Ministry said.

Source: Xinhua