Bird flu has killed over 100 chickens in Hai Duong province, making it Vietnam's first northern locality stricken by the disease in the 2006-2007 period, local newspaper Youth reported Tuesday.

The disease broke out in a farm with more than 10,000 chickens in Doan Tung commune, Thanh Mien district, Hai Duong on Feb. 16, killing over 100 fowls, the newspaper quoted Dong Van Chuc, head of the provincial Veterinary Bureau, as saying.

According to initial tests by the bureau, the dead chickens were infected with bird flu virus strain H5N1. It has culled all the flock of over 10,000 chickens, and disinfected the farms and surrounding areas.

The new outbreak in Hai Duong made the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development postpone its plan to declare, on Feb. 27, an end to the disease at national scale, the newspaper said.

On Feb. 13, Vietnam's National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Prevention announced that no new outbreak of bird flu had been reported in the country in the previous 21 days.

Since mid-December 2006, bird flu has been reported in eight southern localities: Can Tho city and Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Hau Giang and Kien Giang provinces. The Department of Animal Health under the agriculture ministry has confirmed bird flu outbreaks in the eight localities, but yet to recognize the latest outbreak in Hai Duong.

Bird flu, starting to hit Vietnam in December 2003, has killed and led to the forced culling of millions of poultry in the country.

Source: Xinhua