# 2908
As recently as two weeks ago we were hearing stories out of Vietnam about how widespread avian flu had become this winter, and of complacency and mismanagement in that country’s efforts to contain the virus.
On March 2nd, this was the headline:
Deputy PM lambasts lax bird flu control
A street vendor sells duck noodle on a Hanoi street last Friday.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung rebuked authorities for failing to control and prevent bird flu this week as the virus and other animal diseases spread to several new localities.
So today’s announcement, that avian flu is now under control in that country, comes as a bit of a surprise.
The story below, unfortunately, provides little in the way of detail on the current status of the battle against the H5N1 virus in Vietnam.
And the caveat remains that `There remains a high risk of re-infection’
This from the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) News.
Updated : 11:49 AM, 03/18/2009
Avian flu and foot and mouth disease have eventually been contained although there remains a high risk of re-infection, announced the National Committee for avian flu control at a meeting on March 17 in Hanoi.
Only in Quang Nam is blue ear pig disease still rampant and likely to spread to all parts of the province.
Mr. Diep Kinh Tan, a deputy minister of agricultural and rural development, urged the committee to find out why Quang Nam has had to deal with increasing outbreaks of the disease for three successive years since 2006.
The department of cultivation and animal breeding will instruct the local farmers on methods of breeding to reduce risk of future infection and launch the first phase of its avian flu vaccination campaigns in April 2009.
