¡¡¡¡Special Report: Worldwide Fight Against Bird Flu

     BRUSSELS, March 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Dutch veterinarians begin the precautionary vaccination of chickens against bird flu on Thursday, the first such program in the country.

    First in line are the "Barnevelders" and Bantam hens that are usually reared in the open air.

    The vaccination program is seen as a milestone as it is the first since rules adopted in 1992 allowed farm animals to be vaccinated as a precaution against a dangerous illness.

    The European Union has adhered to a "no-vaccination" policy throughout the 1990s. The policy has started to crumble in recent years as farmers demanded the right to vaccinate during outbreak of swine fever and foot-and-mouth in cattle.

    The European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the European Union (EU), gave way to demands from the Netherlands and France --Europe's largest poultry producers -- three weeks ago for the right to vaccinate millions of commercial birds as a precaution against the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu.

    This was the first time the commission has endorsed a vaccination program to fight against highly pathogenic avian flu in the EU.

    The deadly bird flu strain has been detected in 11 countries in the EU, but not in the Netherlands.

    The Dutch vaccination plan applies to hobby poultry and to free-range laying hens throughout the whole country. There are between 1 to 3 million hobby birds and around 5 million free-range laying hens in the Netherlands.

    The vaccination will be provided on a voluntary basis, as an alternative to locking up free-range and open-air poultry.

    Dutch agriculture Minister Cees Veerman has ordered all commercial poultry be confined indoors from 20 February to prevent them coming into contact with wild birds infected by H5N1.

    The programs will be subject to rigorous surveillance and control requirements, including movement restrictions, monitoring of vaccinated flocks to ensure that there is no undetected avian flu outbreak and careful record-keeping. Enditem