HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province has seen first outbreaks of A/H5N6 bird flu which have led to the culling of 10,500 chickens, local media reported on Tuesday.
The outbreaks were spotted in two communes in Xuyen Moc district on July 31 and Aug. 1, and then tests confirmed that some chickens were infected with the bird flu virus, Vietnam News Agency quoted the provincial Department of Livestock and Animal Health as reporting.
Relevant local agencies have culled 10,500 chickens raised by two households in the two communes, disinfected surrounding areas and intensified vaccination among fowls in the district.
In late July, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the outbreaks of A/H5N6 and A/H5N1 bird flu had been reported in 13 communes of 11 localities from the start of 2019, leading to the culling of more than 23,000 poultry.
The bird flu is forecast to widely spread in the remaining months of this year due to changing weather and surging poultry transportation in time ahead of the lunar new year holiday.
Vietnam first detected bird flu virus strain of A/H5N1 in December 2003 on both humans and fowls. More than 45 million poultry in Vietnam were culled between 2003 and 2006. Since then, hundreds of thousands of fowls have been killed each year.
In the 2004-2014 period, 127 people in Vietnam were infected with H5N1, including 64 fatalities, according to the ministry. The country has detected no new human cases of H5N1 infection since 2014.
