Vietnam added its voice yesterday to assurances from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization that there was no proof yet that pigs were infected with bird flu, the disease which has killed 18 people across Asia.
The denial came as Asian nations battled accusations of being slow to react to outbreaks and mulled calls from international health experts to launch a widespread vaccination program to curb the spread of avian influenza.
Bui Quang Anh, director of the Vietnamese agriculture ministry's veterinarian department, said blood samples from 179 pigs had been sent to laboratories in Hong Kong but had tested negative for the H5N1 virus.
"I can officially declare that we have not found evidence of bird flu in pigs," he told AFP.
On Friday, however, the FAO's Vietnam director Anton Rychener said the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu had been detected in nasal swabs taken from pigs in the capital and its surroundings.
His comments were swiftly played down by the UN agency's Rome headquarters.
Peter Roeder, an FAO veterinary virologist and animal health expert, advised "caution in the interpretation of diagnostic results" generated by tests that do not conform to international standards.
"At this time we have seen no data that would indicate that pigs are in any way involved in spreading the current strain of the H5N1 influenza virus," he said.
At present, the virus, is transmitted from poultry to humans but cannot be transmitted from humans to humans.
However, the World Health Organization has warned that H5N1 could kill millions across the globe if it combined with a human influenza virus to create a new highly contagious strain transmissible among humans.
This situation could be exacerbated if pigs are found to carry H5N1, as experts say they are an ideal "mixing vessel" in which viruses swap genes, become more lethal or contagious and then leap to humans.
But despite the fact that virologists have known for several years that flu viruses can pass between species, including pigs and poultry, FAO headquarters said there was no evidence this was happening in Vietnam.
Also See Story:
Thailand surviving bird flu, PM says
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS