The Vietnamese government Tuesday urged relevant agencies to consider bird flu prevention as their key task in order to quickly contain the outbreak, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Under an emergency dispatch signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the agencies and People's Committees of localities nationwide were requested to work closely with the Vietnam Fatherland Front and mass organizations to disseminate information on harmful effects of bird flu and implement supplementary vaccination plans for all domestic fowls.

The prime minister also urged animal health agencies to collaborate with local public security and traffic forces to strictly monitor veterinary sanitation, poultry slaughtering, and transport of poultry, particularly to areas free from bird flu and urban centers.

The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development was asked to work closely with customs officers and border guards to prevent smuggling of poultry and related products through border gates. They were also required to keep imported fowls under strict quarantine.

The prime minister urged the Health Ministry to keep an eye on the progress of bird flu outbreaks worldwide, direct related agencies to supervise the outbreaks across Vietnam, as well as to guide the implementation of preventive measures against bird flu among humans. The ministry was also asked to be ready with essential equipment, facilities and medicines to cope with the disease's spread.

At a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Anti-Bird flu on Tuesday, the Department of Animal Health under the agriculture ministry said bird flu is developing in a complex manner in the southern Mekong Delta, posing an increasing threat of spreading from affected localities to outbreak-free zones.

By Tuesday, the disease affected 38 communes in 19 districts in the seven southern provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Hau Giang, Vinh Long, Kien Giang, Tra Vinh and Soc Trang, killing 17,960 poultry and leading to the forced culling of nearly 22,870 others, the department said.

Source: Xinhua