Phu Yen (VNA) – An outbreak of A/H5N6influenza, also known as bird flu, which is transmittable to humans, has been detectedin the central province of Phu Yen, said a local official.

Nguyen Van Lam, vice head of the provincialsub-department of animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, said the outbreakwas discovered in a poultry farm owned by Nguyen Thanh Canh, a resident of DongBinh village, Phu Hoa district on October 27. 

In just two days, more than 1,700 poultry in thefarm were reported dead. Samples of dead chickens, sent for testing, have confirmedpositive to A/H5N6 virus.

All poultry in the farm were culled to preventthe spread of the virus. 

Additionally, the sub-department will provide300,000 doses of vaccine to the six neighbouring communes of Hoa An, Hoa Tri, andHoa Thang in Phu Hoa district; Hoa Binh in Tay Hoa district; Hoa Thanh in DongHoa district; and Binh Ngoc in Tuy Hoa city, along with 5,000 litres of disinfectant. 

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of PhuHoa district Nguyen Ngoc Tuong said that the district has instructed relevantagencies to keep a close watch on the neighbouring farms, establishing acontrol centre and starting to cull affected animals and provide sterilisations,as well as managing the distribution of poultry vaccines.

Local farmers are advised to closely monitor thegrowth of their poultry and promptly report any animal deaths to authorisedagencies. The fowls are also required to receive full vaccinations, it said.

Phu Yen is one of the localities with thelargest number of poultry in Vietnam’s central region, totalling around 3.6million. –VNA