VietNamNet Bridge – Over 26,000 quails infected with the avian flu virus of the H5N1 type have been destroyed in Tien Giang Province in the past month, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Several quail farms in Tien Giang have been hit by the H5N1 virus, which is highly likely to spread to other domesticated birds. Thus, the agriculture ministry has written to related agencies, asking them to check quail farms and try to prevent bird flu outbreaks.

Under current regulations, poultry found infected with the bird flu virus must be destroyed and all other domesticated birds in the locality must be vaccinated.

However, there is no effective vaccine for quails yet, making it hard to prevent the virus from spreading into the areas surrounding the H5N1-hit quail farms, said Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the Veterinary Office for Zone 6 under the Department of Animal Health.

“We are proposing the Department of Animal Health to test the vaccines for chickens and ducks on quails. The time for testing and finding an effective vaccine for quails will be about two months,” he said.

Quails are raised to supply eggs to the market, he said. In the quail farms where the H5N1 virus is detected, quail eggs should be disinfected with potassium permanganate and other substances before they are sold to dealers.

Binh said the possibility of quail eggs containing the H5N1 virus should not be ruled out. Therefore, consumers should not eat raw quail eggs and need to cook them before consumption, he said.

Farmers whose quails are culled will receive support worth VND10,000 per unit. Tien Giang is now the only locality nationwide with prevailing bird flu outbreaks, said the Department of Animal Health.

According to the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, this year 14 people were found infected with H5N1 in Cambodia, with nine of them dying, while two cases of infection and one death had been reported in Vietnam.

Source: SGT