HANOI, April 21 (Xinhua) -- A modern bird flu reference laboratory with a total investment of over 281,000 U.S. dollars has become operational in Vietnam, local newspaper Vietnam Agriculture reported Friday.

    The lab inaugurated on Thursday is to conduct bird flu researches, help Laos and Cambodia diagnose the disease, develop technologies for making diagnosis products, and train local veterinary staff about diagnosis techniques.

    As the national reference laboratory, it will make final decision about results of bird flu analysis when health establishments produce different testing results.

    In 2005, bird flu hit 44 cities and provinces of Vietnam, killing and leading to the forced culling of nearly 4.8 million poultry, or over 2 percent of the country's fowl population, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

    The country, home to nearly 220 million fowls currently, has detected no bird flu outbreaks for over four months, said the ministry. Enditem