Bird flu outbreaks in two Mekong Delta provinces of Vietnam have been contained but the risk of recurrence there and elsewhere was still high, officials said yesterday.
Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat said in a report that the outbreaks had been brought under control in the Mekong Delta, where more than 9,000 ducks and chicken have been slaughtered since a first outbreak on Dec. 11.
The Animal Health Department said yesterday that bird flu was still present in five communes in the two Mekong Delta provinces.
The Agriculture Ministry's report also highlighted the risk of a bird flu recurrence in the Red River Delta in the country's north due to the widespread smuggling of poultry from China and the increased consumption of poultry during Lunar New Year in February. The outbreaks of the H5N1 virus were the first in Vietnam since August.
Meanwhile, several cases of avian flu have spread from poultry to humans in the Nile Delta, Egyptian health authorities said this week as they worked to wipe out the outbreak among chickens and ducks.
A 15-year-old girl died on Monday, a day after the death of a woman in her 30s whose family members also showed symptoms.
Egypt has reported nine confirmed human deaths from H5N1 avian flu this year.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
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