At at an international bird flu conference in Ho Chi Minh City, a UN animal health expert called on Thursday for a sharp increase in donor funding to tackle the ongoing outbreak of bird flu.
"We have had not much donor response to our plea. Given the size if the problem, its just glaringly insufficient," said Dr Samuel Jutzi, from the animal production and health division from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Around US$18 million had been pledged by donors, much less than was needed, Jutzi said.
At least US$100 million is required for the emergency phase of tackling the disease in birds and several billion more dollars will be required for compensation, according to the UN official.
Speakers at the conference in Ho Chi Minh City have been outlining country-by-country approaches to tackling bird flu, and giving presentations on how money pledged by donor nations should be used.
Experts at the conference have been stressing that tackling the H5N1 outbreaks in birds across the region is essential to try to minimize the possibility of the disease mutating into a form that can be spread between humans.
Representatives from donor countries and organizations were expected to make presentations yesterday, before the conference concludes.
The messages that experts say urgently need to be passed on to chicken raisers through the bird flu affected region have clearly got through to Nguyen Quoi Chung, an egg dealer who is rearing 20,000 chickens on a farm in Nghe An Province around 45km from Ho Chi Minh City.
Last January, Chung had 24,000 birds, but 4,000 died suddenly and the other 20,000 birds were culled, the farmer said on Thursday.
"I was worried about my health and the health of my family last year, but this year not so much because all my chickens are healthy," he said.
Small outbreaks of bird flu are still occurring near his farm, but he is hopeful that protective measures will ensure the disease does not devastate his flock as it did last year.
"Normally I spray disinfectant every two days; when we have an outbreak in a neighboring province I spray every day; when it happens in Long An, I will spray two or three times a day," the 46-year-old farmer said.
Delegates at the conference, organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Conference (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday that wild fowl are a reservoir for the disease. Chung is aware of this but stoical and practical.
"If a wild bird transmitted bird flu to my chickens, the quicklime I have spread around the perimeter will help reduce the possibility that it will spread to other farms," he said.
The farmer, who started with a flock of 100 birds 20 years ago, is aware of the much-publicized warning about the virus mutating from its current form that is passed from birds to humans into one that can be spread between humans.
"I know they are predicting human-to-human transmission, but it seems that most of the people who have become infected with bird flu are people who slaughter chickens and ducks, more so than the people who raise the birds," he said.
Animal health specialists at the opening of the conference reiterated on Wednesday that the disease is entrenched in bird populations throughout the region, but Chung will be sticking with chickens, despite predictions that the virus will be around for several years.
Long An Province was one of the first places officially hit by bird flu last January, and a young girl admitted to a hospital around 1km from Chung's farm two months ago is one of the 13 confirmed fatalities this year.
Despite this, and reports on Thursday that a 59-year-old man from Long An may have become the Vietnam's 14th human bird flu fatality, Chung is optimistic that the virus can be brought under control in birds.
"I think it will continue because it is very difficult to stop. I think it will only happen in places where small numbers of birds are raised, as the big farms now have good protection," he said.
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