Mystery virus kills chickens

2004-01-06 11:20

Hanoi - Nearly 40 000 chickens have died from a mystery virus in two provinces in southern Vietnam and as many as 400 000 are thought to be infected, officials said on Tuesday.

The disease, which first emerged last week, has triggered panic selling of chickens among local farmers in Tien Giang and Long An, raising concerns that it could spread among poultry across other parts of the Mekong Delta region.

"We are taking urgent measures because this epidemic could threaten all the Mekong Delta," said Nguyen Duy Long, an official from the Long An provincial government's veterinary department.

"The virus causes a quick death among infected chickens. It is a very dangerous virus that could also affect other domestic animals," he added.

Long refused to speculate on whether the virus could be the highly contagious bird flu that killed six people in Hong Kong in 1997, and which triggered panic in South Korea following an outbreak there last month.

"We plan to send blood samples to overseas laboratories to determine the type of virus but first we are awaiting a decision from the Ministry of Health," he said.

Ministry officials could not be contacted for further comment.

Long said local markets in the two provinces were being strictly monitored and that all dead chickens were being confiscated. Measures have also been put in place to prevent the transportation of chickens to other provinces.

However, he said preventing transmission of the virus beyond the borders of the two provinces was proving difficult.

"The problem is that many local people are trying to sell their remaining chickens to traders in Ho Chi Minh City."

Authorities in Vietnam's southern business capital have asked local people to avoid buying, selling or eating chickens from the Mekong Delta.

- SAPA