Vietnam facing high risk of H7N9 avian virus
- Hanoi sets tight control to prevent A/H7N9 outbreaks
- Northern border provinces in response to avian flu H7N9
- Quang Ninh strengthens border inspection given China’s H7N9 outbreak
- Ministry instructs strong measures to prevent H7N9 avian flu
According to the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Public Health, Chinese Guangxi province has reported a sharp increase in human A/H7N9 flu cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the increase could be due to poultry transported from Guangdong province to Guangxi after Guangdong closed its poultry market.
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| Vietnam facing high risk of H7N9 avian virus |
Experts have warned that the risk of avian influenza to infiltrate into Vietnam has now been facing the highest risk of avian flu since 2013 as Guangxi province may soon close its poultry market, which will lead to a large amount of poultry and poultry products transported into Vietnam if the country does not take strict and efficient border control measures.
More dangerously, the WHO and FAO have announced that experts have detected the change of influenza A (H7N9) virus from low virulence to high virulence in humans as well as in poultry. In humans, high virulence genes were found in two patients with influenza A (H7N9) in Guangdong and one patient with influenza A (H7N9) in Taiwan (China).
Research results show that high virulence of influenza A (H7N9) viruses can kill 100% of chickens infected and infect 100-1000 times faster than low virulent viruses. This continuum of change is a natural feature of the influenza virus due to its recombinant process.
Against this backdrop, Ministry of Health has set up five working missions to directly inspect the implementation of epidemic control activities in localities.
