Removing the old plastic board read "Sale of chickens and ducks. Ready to serve at home", at the stall in busy Mo market, Nguyen Thi Ha said she was selling beef from the next day as the Vietnamese government has banned poultry sales in the inner city, in a move to cope with bird flu.

"We will be fined if we continue to sell poultry or eggs. Moreover, nobody wants to buy them. They are scared of bird flu," the 50-year-old fowl vendor said, putting a wooden table for selling the new product at the door. "Information about bird flu is widely reported on TVs and radios every day."

As bird flu raged 16 northern, central and southern cities and provinces, killing or forcing the slaughter of roughly 600,000 fowls since early last month, many Vietnamese people have stopped eating fowl meat and eggs, major sources of food for some delicacies in the country.

"I stopped eating poultry several months ago when I knew that bird flu returned here. I only use it when the current outbreak wanes," said Nguyen Thu Huong, standing in the marketplace, which used to house ready-made fowl shops. She selected a plump fish from a tub of water.

Many hotels in the city have also removed poultry meat and eggs from their menus since last month. Even many street-side restaurants have also offered other dishes made from rabbit meat, pork, beef or fish to replace those from fowls.

Fowl meat, a centerpiece of many people's meals before, has been also removed from dinning tables of restaurants in Pho Hien, the biggest market, in bird flu-hit northern province of Hung Yen. Several dozens of customers, mainly poor workers, sitting in tiny chairs near some dirty washing basin, were gladly enjoying delicious dishes made from tofu, pork, shrimp and fish. Meanwhile, ducks were pecking the ground for scraps at the market, where fowls have not been sold as several days before.

While bird flu has caused many difficulties to fowl raisers, it has created bigger earnings for sellers of other kinds of foodstuff. Many local foodstuff sellers have increased prices of beef, pork and seafood by 5-10 percent since early this month. Some supermarkets plan to sell imported semi-processed chickens with higher prices to serve people in large cities.

Poultry, especially chickens and ducks used to be frequently available at grand wedding parties or every day meals of many Vietnamese families. Only a week ago, Hanoinian customers were still wooed by golden brown roasted ducks in bustling sidewalks- shops or steaming chicken noodle bowls at cozy street-side restaurants. Meanwhile, fowls were raised in most of households in countryside villages for food, eggs or even to increase their meager incomes. The country's tradition of eating and raising poultry has made the elimination of the disease more difficult.

Despite government's advise of not eating poultry and their products, some local people have defiantly vowed not to change their habit of consuming fowls. "I have heard of bird flu. I do not eat fowls sold in markets or shops. I only eat healthy ones raised by my family. It's quite safe," Nguyen Duc Minh from northern Ha Tay province said, while a flock of over 10 plump chickens were freely roaming in his small yard.

In some localities, even bird flu-hit ones, flocks of chickens and ducks roaming in large gardens or swimming in ponds have been screened on central TV in recent days. Even, local media on Friday reported that chickens have still been freely strolled in the inner city of Hanoi although the government has recently imposed a ban on raising poultry in the inner areas of cities and towns and restricting the breeding of fowls in high-risk areas.

Vietnam should improve public awareness on the danger of bird flu and ways of avoid contracting it, Hans Troedsson, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam told Xinhua recently. "A large portion of the population (of Vietnam) is not fully aware about the situation and how to protect themselves."

Many households in the countryside have still raised poultry although bird flu has jumped to 92 local people and claimed 42 lives since late 2003. Now, the fowl raisers have to suffer the most severe blow caused by the disease.

Nguyen Thi Dao, who has a flock of over 400 chickens, had to borrow money from her relatives and friends to raise her fowls. " Now, I have to spend nearly 200,000 Vietnamese dong (VND) (nearly 12.6 US dollars) on feeding them. I don't know how long I could cope with the increasing loss," she lamented. "If bird flu hadn't occur, I could have earned huge profits from them."

To help farmers overcome difficulties caused by bird flu, local authorities have provided financial assistance to people who culled their fowls, or asked local banks to offer no-interest loans to farms raising several thousands of poultry. However, the assistance is not enough to offset raisers' losses.

Local fowl raisers have to seek ways to save themselves from bird flu which is quickly spreading in the country. Some farmers from the south, who fear that bird flu may hit their healthy flows or cannot bear the cost of feeding them any longer, have sold them to crocodile farms. Some others have sought new occupation.

"We have to find another way to live when we cannot continue to raise fowls," Dao said. The widow from northern Ha Tay province intended to borrow money from local banks to breed fish and develop her orchard garden for sales to feed her three children.

Source: Xinhua