Some Vietnam Breeders Regain after Bird Flu Scourge

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Chicken breeders such as Huynh Thi Ba are just starting to break even more than two years into the avian flu epidemic that shattered the livelihood of some Vietnamese poultry farmers.

KHAI TAY, Vietnam — Chicken breeders such as Huynh Thi Ba are just starting to break even more than two years into the avian flu epidemic that shattered the livelihood of some Vietnamese poultry farmers.


Thousands of chickens clucking away in wire cages of a large coop behind her village home in central Vietnam avoided the deadly H5N1 virus and are now protected by costly measures such as disinfectant, vaccinations and feed to boost immunity.


"I ate and I slept with the chickens so I could make certain that none of my chickens had problems," Ba said at her family-run poultry farm in Khai Tay, 15 km from the coastal city of Danang.


The farm was presented on Saturday as a model of disease prevention to officials at the May 4-6 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) avian flu conference in Danang.


Communist-run Vietnam has been praised by international health officials for fighting the disease, which has killed 114 people worldwide in just over two years.


On the narrow, paved roads of the dusty village, residents in conical straw hats ride bicycles and motorbikes past the farm, where workers feed the 7,000 chickens and gather eggs that are sent to be certified and stamped as virus-free.


Ba, an earnest woman in a white coat and brown and tan cap, said that during the outbreaks of 2004 and 2005 she did not make any profit because of bans on selling birds and eggs.


Before avian flu struck, her annual income from breeding and sales was 70 million dong ($4,400), a large amount in the poor Southeast Asian country, which has an annual per capita of $640.


"Now we just actually break even because any profit is to offset the losses of the past few years," she said.


But things are looking up as Vietnam has enjoyed six months of being free of the disease in humans, although health officials say it isn't virus free and another outbreak could happen any time.


It is five months since the disease was found in birds and people are eating chicken after almost a year of abstaining.


Three years ago in the farmer's district, the selling price for chickens was 28,000 dong ($1.75) per kg and now they sell for 39,000 dong ($2.45) per kilogram.


LONG-TERM PLAN


The 21-nation APEC meeting agreed on a plan for long-term strategies to contain the virus in birds in the vast region and prevent a human flu pandemic.


Measures include higher trade standards -- the movement of live chickens within a country and across borders is one of the main ways that the virus can be transmitted. The other is migratory birds.


APEC says it accounts for 47 percent of world trade and it has 2.6 billion people, including economic powers the United States and China.


Vietnam has suffered more than others from avian flu with hundreds of millions of chickens and ducks culled and 42 people killed out of 93 cases since late 2003.The government estimated the economic cost in 2004 alone of at least $190 million.


Scientists fear the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form that jumps easily between people and start a global pandemic. In its present form, the virus is difficult for humans to contract and most victims received the virus directly from sick birds.


In Danang health and agriculture ministers agreed to promote early detection of the virus, share biological specimens, fight illegal chicken trade and study reforms of poultry production.


Most chicken and duck raising in Asia happens in backyards, where it is more difficult to monitor disease than in commerical farm settings.


Animal surveillance quality, compensation for farmers and public awareness at district level were crucial to containing the virus, said Shigeru Omi, Western Pacific regional director for the U.N.'s World Health Organisation.


"These are the three factors which are really the difference between groups of countries -- one group is making a lot of improvement and others are not," Omi told reporters.


He cited China and Indonesia as places where there was "still room for improvement" at district and village level even though there was a political commitment from central government.


(Additional reporting by Ho Binh Minh)


Source: Reuters


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