HANOI, March 20 (Xinhua) -- A new A/H5N6 bird flu outbreak has been reported in Vietnam's central Quang Tri province, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Department of Animal Health on Monday.
According to the latest announcement by the department, from March 9 to March 17, the A/H5N6 bird flu outbreak occurred in Quang Tri's Trieu Phong district, affecting 130 chickens. The total number of killed and mulled poultry was 200, reported Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA.
So far, Vietnam has reported four A/H5N1 outbreaks in four provinces and two A/H5N6 outbreaks in two provinces in the past 21 days, leaving over 9,000 poultry killed and mulled.
The department assessed that Vietnam is facing "very high" risk of avian bird flu outbreak spreading in the coming time.
Some virus types that have not been present in Vietnam including A/H7N9, A/H5N2, and AH5N8 are likely to penetrate into the country via transport, trade, consumption activities of smuggled poultry and related products without clear origin, especially in border areas, said the department.
