Bird flu outbreak found at a Vietnamese farm

A farm in the southern Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu was ordered to cull its flock after officials on Tuesday, August 29, identified an outbreak of the avian A/H5N1 virus.

Some 2,600 birds must be culled at the farm in the hamlet of Ninh Loi in the district of Hong Dan in Bac Lieu Province, said representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Ministry has also established a quarantine on duck and chicken farms around the area, and said it would test chickens on such farms to determine whether the disease had spread.

It said in a prepared statement it would coordinate this testing with the provincial Department for Breeding and Animal Health.

The Ministry noted this was a bird health issue and not a food safety or human health concern, adding that there’s no evidence to suggest that any form of avian influenza can be transmitted to humans from properly cooked poultry.