Guest guest Posted January 10, 2004 Report Share Posted January 10, 2004 ***************************Advertisement*************************** eCentral - Your Entertainment Guide http://www.star-ecentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/1/10/asia/7077122 & sec=asia ________________________ Saturday January 10, 2004 Vietnam orders culling of poultry HANOI: Vietnam has identified as bird flu a disease that has wiped out hundreds of thousands of poultry, and the government said yesterday it had ordered a culling campaign just weeks before the country's biggest festival. Earlier this week, provincial officials said a fast-spreading disease in the country's south was chicken cholera. The Agriculture Ministry dismissed this yesterday, saying the preliminary findings were wrong. “We have identified the disease as the dangerous bird flu which was found in Vietnam for the first time,” said Hoang Van Nam of the ministry-run veterinary department. Further tests would be done abroad to verify the type of bird flu and to determine if it is a threat to humans. In 1997 and 1998, the H5N1 variant of avian influenza swept through Hong Kong's poultry farms, killing six people. “The bird flu is a combination of sub-types under H and N and so far we have been able to identify only H5,” Nam said. There are 15 sub-types under H and nine under the N categories. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, in an official statement seen yesterday, ordered local governments to incinerate all chickens suspected of carrying the virus and said all farms where sick birds were found would be quarantined. Chicken is widely consumed during Tet, the new year celebrations from Jan 21 to 27. The deputy prime minister's comments were the first official acknowledgement of the disease, two weeks after veterinarians said around 500,000 chickens had been killed in two southern provinces of Long An and Tien Giang. Bird flu has also spread to the country's financial capital, Ho Chi Minh City, where some consumers have already taken chicken off the menu. Vietnam does not export chickens. Dung has asked the Agriculture Ministry to seek foreign help to identify the sub-type of the virus and to find a cure. & #8211; Reuters <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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