Vietnam had reported no new human cases of avian influenza A/H5N1 and the country had successfully controlled outbreaks of the H5N1 strain over the past five years. (Photo: baothaibinh.com.vn)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam hadreported no new human cases of avian influenza A/H5N1 and the country hadsuccessfully controlled outbreaks of the H5N1 strain over the past five years,an official said.
Deputy Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said the country had also coordinatedwith domestic and international organisations by sharing information andimplementing measures to cope with A/H7N9.
At a meeting between the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MARD) and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of the US (CDC)in Hanoi on December 11, he said the CDC had offered effective supportfor Vietnam’s animal health sector in combating diseases.
The MARD pledged toeffectively implement programmes supported by the CDC and hoped theorganisation would continue to share information to assist the country invaccine production and research, he said.
The CDC said it valuedthe initiative taken by the animal health sector in Vietnam to controldiseases. The agency said that it would extend its support in sharing itsmonitoring and disease control toolkit as well as dispatch experts to help Vietnambetter control influenza and rabies.
John Blandford, countrydirector of the CDC, said the CDC had used a bird flu isolated in Vietnam tostandardize production of the Navet-vifluvac vaccine.
The CDC had also agreed to transfer advancedtechniques and technologies for bird flu and rabies vaccine production in Vietnam,he said.
The CDC helped Vietnam carry out the"Studies at the Animal-Human Interface of Influenza and Other ZoonoticDiseases" project from 2012-17 with total investment of over 2.3 millionUSD.
The Department of Animal Health under MARD wasthe main recipient along with research partners including the National Centrefor Veterinary Diagnosis.
Under the project, thousands of samples were collectedfrom poultry, pigs and humans in 12 provinces each year.
The project aimed to strengthen the capacity ofthe animal health and public health sectors to design, conduct, analyse anddescribe the results of local, regional and national surveillance and researchstudies.
The results of the tests have helped authoritiesunderstand and apply control and intervention measures for influenza andother zoonotic diseases.
The CDC is also sponsoring continuation of theproject between 2017-2022 with 2 million USD investment. It targets differenttypes of bird flu including H5N1, H5N6 and H7N9 at live poultry markets andsmuggling/culling points in 10 selected provinces and cities.-VNS/VNA
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