Vietnam to vaccinate white-feathered ducks against bird flu

Vietnam will soon vaccinate its white-feathered ducks, similar to small geese, against bird flu viruses to prevent reoccurrence of the disease, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Thursday.

Under a decision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday, vaccination will be conducted among nearly 7 million of white-feathered ducks nationwide, as 40 percent of the fowls vaccinated on trial basis developed immunity to bird flu.

If all the ducks are vaccinated, at least 3 million will have immunity to the disease, said agriculture minister Cao Duc Phat.

Besides vaccinating white-feathered ducks, Vietnam will keep on vaccinating chickens and common ducks nationwide in the next few weeks. However, the country plans to vaccinate them against only bird flu virus strain H5N1, instead of both H5N1 and H5N2 as it did last year, he said.

In 2005, bird flu hit 44 cities and provinces of Vietnam, killing and leading to the forced culling of nearly 4.8 million poultry, accounting for over 2 percent of the country's fowl population. It has detected no bird flu outbreak for over three months.

Vietnam, home to 8 million poultry-raising households, now has a total poultry population of nearly 220 million, according to the ministry.

Source: Xinhua