Published Date: 2007-08-02 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/MBDS> Porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome - Viet Nam (05)
Archive Number: 20070802.2505
PORCINE REPRODUCTIVE & RESPIRATORY SYNDROME - VIET NAM (05)
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
[1]
Date: Thu 2 Aug 2007
Source: Thanh Nien [edited]
<http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=30594>
Quang Nam province in central Viet Nam, which has been worst hit by
the porcine blue ear disease, refused to declare some districts
disease-free Wednesday [1 Aug 2007], as one more locality reported an outbreak.
The provincial government at a meeting rejected requests from some
communes in Duy Xuyen and Thang Binh districts to declare themselves
free from Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), as
the disease is medically known.
Instead, it instructed them to take another look at over 1800 pigs
currently under treatment and cull them if necessary. It also
instructed disease-hit localities to take drastic measures to contain
the epidemic, like preventing illegal transport of infected pigs,
inoculation, and quarantine of infected sites.
On the same day [1 Aug 2007], the central Department of Animal Health
declared the province's Phu Ninh province as infected, after 8 pigs
were reported sick.
Besides Quang Nam, the disease has also spread in Thua Thien Hue and
Quang Ngai provinces and Danang city in the central region, infecting
over 30 000 pigs, and in Long An province in the south.
Quang Ngai officials caught red-handed Tuesday [31 Jul 2007] a
slaughterhouse in Mo Duc district packing 700 kg of suckling pigs
into 14 frozen containers ready for sale and found 156 more piglets
held in cages.
All the pigs were of unclear origin and without any inoculation or
inspection papers. The abattoir owner does not even have a trading
license. The animals were culled.
--
Communicated by:
Vern Weitzel
Australia Viet Nam Science Technology Link
<vern.weitzel@gmail.com>
******
[2]
Date: 2 Aug 2007
Source: Viet Nam Net [edited]
<http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/08/725167/>
The Ho Chi Minh City Steering Board for Disease Control convened an
urgent meeting yesterday [1 Aug 2007] to discuss ways of combating
the rapidly spreading pig disease Porcine Reproductive and
Respiratory Syndrome Virus, commonly known as blue ear.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Animal Health said pig farmers
should not increase their herds until the danger had passed and
should kill the pigs they do have then freeze and process them.
Nguyen Phuoc Thao, director of the Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development, advised that vaccination against infectious
diseases be stepped up.
To deal with a possible epidemic actively, he said those responsible
for controlling the disease must be determined to kill all pigs with
blue ear so that it cannot spread.
The flip side of this, as was pointed out at the meeting, is that
illegal slaughterhouses and businesses will shut their doors if they
see an inspector anywhere in the vicinity.
Inspectors need a warrant before searching a farm or business
premises, but it takes a long time to get one because of all the
paperwork and other formalities.
Moreover, some farmers are banking on big profits from the reduced
supply of pork, but only if their animals are lucky enough not to
contract the disease.
At the local level, authorities in Binh Chanh District are beefing up
their monitoring of the streets and rivers and asking that pig
farmers to cooperate by not increasing their herds or raising pigs
whose origin is unknown.
In Long An Province on Monday [30 Jul 2007], inspectors found a
diseased pig among 4 that had just been taken to a slaughterhouse in
Can Giuoc District.
They killed all 4 pigs immediately, and the Long An Department of
Animal Health penalized a local vet for failing to spot the sick animal.
For some reason, blue ear seems to be less of a problem in Central Viet Nam.
Quang Nam's Department of Animal Health says only 2119 diseased pigs
have been found in the province and only in 4 districts: Duy Xuyen,
Dien Ban, Que Son and Thang Binh.
In nearby Da Nang, vets are treating 180 pigs with blue ear. Cao Xuan
Thai, who heads the coastal city's Department of Animal Health, says
authorities and farmers have worked well to control the disease.
--
Communicated by:
PRO/MBSD <promed-mbds@promedmail.org>
[In the most recent report to OIE (dated 1 Aug 2007 and available at:
<http://www.oie.int/wahid-prod/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=5840>),
information on 31 outbreaks of PRRS in Viet Nam were provided. The
reported outbreaks occurred in Quang Ninh (1 outbreak reported),
Quang Nam (22 outbreaks reported), Quang Ngai (2 outbreaks reported),
Hai Phong City (1 outbreak reported), Long An (1 outbreak reported),
Thua Thien - Hue (2 outbreaks reported), Vinh Phuc (1 outbreak
reported) and Da Nang City (1 outbreak reported). See above provided
URL link for more details on each of the outbreaks reported.
A summary of the overall outbreak statistics from the OIE report:
Species / Susceptible / Cases / Deaths / Destroyed / Slaughtered
Swine / 41 528 / 24 285 / 3355 / 1256 / 790
Species / Apparent morbidity rate / Apparent mortality rate /
Apparent case fatality rate / Proportion susceptible removed*
Swine / 58.48 percent / 8.08 percent / 13.82 percent / 13.01 percent
* Removed from the susceptible population either through death,
destruction or slaughter
In addition to the outbreaks listed in the OIE report, the above
newswires mention Phu Ninh province as having identified an outbreak
as well as probable additional outbreaks in Quang Nam province, the
province thus far reporting the most number of outbreaks, and in new
areas in Long An. Of note, and concern, is the mention of the
identification of probable attempted illegal trade of animals,
bypassing the usual regulations applied to animal transport and sale,
unfortunately a not uncommon occurrence that probably contributes to
the spread of disease from one geographic location to another.
For maps of Viet Nam with provinces and regions of the country, see
<http://www.angelfire.com/co/hongnam/vnmap.html> and
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/vietnam_admin01.jpg>.
- Mod.MPP]