Spring Festivals Mean Bird Flu in Vietnam

Bird flu infection rates among chickens have swelled in Vietnam this month in the wake of Spring festivities, according to Vietnam local media.

This past week alone, nearly 1000 chickens and ducks from two provinces were culled after being suspect of carrying the disease.According to Vietnam's state-run news agency, VNA, another avian bird flu outbreak was reported with nearly 1,000 chickens sick and dead in Kon Tum province, this past January.

A veterinary official who was at the scene of the Kon Tum outbreak later fell ill and was hospitalized after showing severe signs of fever, fatigue, and loss of appetite, according to VNA. It remains unclear whether this is an instance of a human infection of H5N1 avian flu. As the official was healthy during his time of contract, it remains unlikely that he was infected with bird flu, but he has been reportedly quarantined in the interest of preventing an even unlikely spread of a human-transmittable avian flu.

Vietnam local authorities say that the rise in poultry infections is likely the result of post-Tet, or Lunar New Year festivals. According to Viet Nam Net (VNN), one of Vietnam's sole online papers, Spring festivals like Tet promote an unusually high demand for poultry that the government-regulated supply often cannot meet. Because of this, poultry smuggling from China becomes significantly more prevalent during this time, bringing unregulated and potentially infected poultry into the country.

According to VNN, a recent governmental survey of 147 poultry markets revealed that bird flu viruses were found in 61 percent of the markets and 5.6 percent of ducks from these same markets tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

The H5N1 virus, which has seen the most human cases in China, has already caused 64 deaths among the ill and elderly in Vietnam.

The H7N9 strain of the flu that has been making headlines in China, has yet to make its way over to Vietnam, but officials remain vigilant, especially in light of increased smuggling operation inspired by the Spring festivities.