NEWS UPDATE:
HANOI, April 12 2013 (Xinhua) --
Nearly 5,000 salangane birds, which are raised by local people in Vietnam's
central Phan Rang city were found dead and said to be infected with avian flu
strain H5N1, reported local Tuoi Tre
newspaper on Friday.
According to Vice Chairwoman of
Phan Rang City People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hue, from March 28 to April 11,
about 4,900 salangane birds out of the flock's 10,000 heads raised by the Yen
Viet Company Limited were found dead in Phan Rang City of Ninh Thuan province.
Among the dying birds to be tested at the local Veterinary Department 6, eight
samples were found positive to the avian flu strain H5N1.
This is the first time man-raised
salangane birds were found dead in Vietnam because of the avian flu strain H5N1, so there is not yet specific
measures to control the expansion of the disease, except those applied to the H5N1-infected poultry, said Nguyen Xuan
Binh, director of the Veterinary Department 6.
Since news about the death of
H5N1 infected salangane birds were reported, local veterinary agencies had
brought samples of the young and grown-up salangane birds, and their manures
and nests to be tested, whose results would not be announced until April 16.
Meanwhile, strict supervision is
applied to 54 salangane breeding houses in Phan Rang City, until final results
of the tests are reported.
Preventive measures are also
implemented in other localities where salangane birds are breeding en mass,
including central Khanh Hoa province, southern Tien Giang province and Ho Chi
Minh City.
Specifically, 12 salangane
samples from Can Gio district (HCM City) are now being tested at the HCM City
Veterinary Department, Phan Xuan Thao, head of the department told Tuoi Tre
reporter, adding that in 2012 and during the first quarter of this year, the
The department had tested 94 samples of the salangane, and all results showed
negative to the H5N1 virus.
Source: Newsagent.Vn
What is H5N1?
H5N1
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also
known as "bird flu", A(H5N1) or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A
virus which can cause
illness in humans and many other animal species.[1] A bird-adapted strain of H5N1, called HPAI A(H5N1) for "highly pathogenic avian influenza virus of type A of
subtype H5N1", is the causative agent of H5N1 flu, commonly known as "avian influenza"
or "bird flu". It is enzootic in
many bird populations, especially in Southeast Asia.
One strain of HPAI A(H5N1) is spreading globally after first appearing in Asia. It is epizootic (an epidemic in nonhumans) and
panzootic (affecting animals of many species, especially over a wide area),
killing tens of millions of birds and spurring the culling of hundreds of millions of others to
stem its spread. Most references to "bird flu" and H5N1 in the popular media refer to this
strain.[2]
Eleven outbreaks of H5N1 were
reported worldwide in 2008 in five countries Indonesia, China,Pakistan, Egypt, and Vietnam.
The above news came out in the Oriental Chinese Daily. I believe it is an isolated case.
Good Swiftlet farming All!