Gradually increase the proportion of poultry meat to 35%

Stable growth

The Deputy Minister of MARD spoke at the Conference summarizing the Project "Monitoring avian influenza and other common diseases from the perspective of human-animal interaction in Vietnam for the period 2017 - 2022". Mr. Phung Duc Tien said that the growth rate of poultry meat production is the most obvious evidence of Vietnam's disease prevention and control.

According to the Deputy Minister, in 2003, avian influenza A/H5N1 first appeared in Vietnam, in more than 2,000 communes, wards, and towns. The diseases caused the extermination of about 50 million poultry. From 2004 to 2014, Vietnam recorded 127 people infected, including 64 deaths (accounting for over 50%) because of influenza A/H5N1.

However, after MARD advised the Government to organize measures to prevent and control avian influenza, with hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine purchased annually, there has not been a single case of death from avian influenza since 2014. In the first eight months of 2022, the number of poultry culled because of influenza is less than 100,000.

"After eight months, the total poultry meat production is about 1.9 million tons, with stable growth of about 3.6%. Surveillance for avian influenza and other zoonotic diseases is well done. That is also the basis to increase the proportion of poultry meat to about 30-35% of the total meat production of 7.5 million tons in the coming years", Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said.

In addition to raising awareness and the initiative of people and localities, leaders of MARD commented that other countries and international organizations helped Vietnam monitor avian influenza and other epidemics. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded one project among all the activities.

From 2017 to 2022, the US CDC funded a total of $2.68 million. Thanks to this funding, the Government can issue the National Plan for Avian Influenza Prevention and Control from 2019 to 2025 and the National Rabies Prevention and Control Program from 2022 to 2030.

Mr. Nguyen Van Long, Acting Director of the Department of Animal Health said that the project has supported and trained personnel from basic to specialized in epidemiology and disease surveillance. The project also helped with data analysis and diagnostic testing for avian influenza and rabies for more than 1,151 officials from 44 provinces and cities participating in the project.

More than 800 veterinarians attended intensive conferences on avian influenza, rabies, and common diseases between humans and animals. At the same time, 29 trainees from the laboratories of the Department of Animal Health were trained in genetic analysis of the avian influenza virus. The Department of Animal Health also sent to the US CDC nearly 10,500 samples positive for avian influenza virus for the US CDC to study.

Aiming towards sustainable development

With the positive and effective results of cooperation over the years, on January 24, 2022, the US CDC announced that it would consider and support the Department of Animal Health to continue to develop a new project on enhancing human health. The US CDC also considers aiding the Department of Animal Health in organizing the implementation of surveillance activities for avian influenza, rabies, and other infectious diseases for five years from October 2022 to September 2027.

On that basis, the Department of Animal Health organized and successfully submitted a new project file on April 11, 2022. As a result, on August 25, 2022, the US CDC announced its approval and funding of $690,000 for the Vietnam Department of Animal Health to organize the first year of implementation, from September 30, 2022, to September 29. 2023 of the New Project.

Specifically, the project will support bird flu surveillance in 15 provinces and cities nationwide; monitoring swine flu at slaughterhouses and slaughterhouses across 10 provinces and cities. The project will also support the investigation and response to outbreaks; Integrate and upgrade the VAHIS disease reporting system, and ensure more complete information and data on disease…

Bryan Kim, Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Vietnam shared: “There is no greater risk than pandemic avian influenza and zoonotic diseases. Surveillance of zoonotic diseases is fundamental to helping humanity better understand viruses and variants."

Mr. Kim suggested that Vietnam, like other countries in the world, needs to collect information regularly and periodically analyze it. Sharing information will help the whole world have the opportunity to detect, control and prevent early risks that can cause a pandemic.