# 2743
Chicken Bikes - A familiar sight in Vietnam
Motor bikes, and bicycles, are the preferred mode of transportation in much of Asia. They are relatively inexpensive to purchase, and to operate.
The `chicken bikes', like the one pictured above, are to be outlawed in Hanoi over fears that unsanitary transport, and close contact between the driver and the chickens, could spread the bird flu virus.
This ban appears only to affect Hanoi.
Elsewhere in Vietnam, and throughout Asia, these `chicken bikes' will continue to be allowed to operate. At least for the time being.
Hanoi bans poultry transport by bikes to stop flu
Tue Feb 3, 4:13 am ET
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam's capital city Hanoi has banned the use of motorcycles and bicycles to transport live poultry as part of efforts to protect the city from a bird flu outbreak.
Starting this week, all poultry brought into the city must be transported by specialised trucks and be certified bird flu-free by the local animal health department, the city government said in a statement seen on Tuesday.
Hanoi has not been hit by the deadly H5N1 virus yet but the agriculture ministry said this week a new bird flu outbreak was discovered in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, where several hundred ducks had tested positive to bird flu.
The bans may be difficult to enforce because large parts of Hanoi are rural and motorcycles are the primary means of transportation for millions of people in Vietnam.
