Nine Vietnamese provinces have met criteria for announcing an end to bird flu outbreaks in their territory, reducing the number of affected localities nationwide to 12, according to a local animal health agency on Monday.

Seven northern provinces, a central province and a southern province have detected no new outbreaks for at least three weeks, meeting the criteria, said the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Since Oct. 1, a total of 21 cities and provinces of Vietnam have been hit by bird flu, which has killed and led to the forced culling of over 3.6 million fowls.

To prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry has recently proposed the government allow the slaughter of all ducks, which are raised freely in fields and canals.

Source: Xinhua