Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung issued orders on May 26 to immediately terminate use of the bird flu vaccine as the virus strain was showing signs of transforming into a more lethal form, as proposed earlier by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
MARD was asked to inform relevant agencies, local administrations and farmers about the situation. The governments must now adopt other preventive measures to curb fresh outbreaks from spreading.
According to the Department of Animal Health, a new virus strain H5N1 has appeared in Vietnam, which is presently circulating in China. Vaccine H5N1 Re-5 proved ineffective to some virus strains. MARD has directed researchers to find new vaccines.
