Vietnam is facing a high risk of the new avian flu virus spreading from its northern neighbor, China, where the virus has affected 60 people and killed 13 of them so far, Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien warned. The minister released the warning at a conference jointly held in Hanoi last Saturday by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on measures to prevent H7N9 avian influenza. The ministry has requested the healthcare system at all levels to take necessary measures to cope with a possible epidemic, Tien said, adding that the ministry has approved an action plan to timely detect the virus infection, limit its impact on patients, and prevent its spread. Deputy Director of the Preventive Medicine Department, Dr. Tran Dac Phu, said that Vietnam has not recorded any case of people infected with the H7N9 virus, but warned that poultry smuggling from China to Vietnam contributes to increasing the infection risk. He also added that one person has died of the influenza virus strain H5N1 since the beginning of the year. Besides training health workers on prevention and treatment of the influenza and enhancing education campaigns to increase people’s awareness of the infection risks, the ministry will also coordinate with concerned agencies to strengthen control over poultry trading activities, the minister said.

The ministry will also coordinate with the agriculture sector to improve food safety and eliminate bird flu outbreaks among poultry and wild birds.

In addition, the Ministry of Health will closely work with the World Health Organization (WHO) to take necessary preparations. According to WHO, no vaccine is currently available for this subtype of the influenza virus and there is no evidence of a human-to-human transmission of the virus.

As of yesterday evening, the H7N9 virus has affected 60 people in China and killed 13 of them, Xinhua News Agency reported.