In an announcement Wednesday, the Veterinary Department blamed local authorities for the continued breeding of free-range ducks despite a ban.

Since last December the department has provided 20 million doses of bird flu vaccines to local administrations. Yet, bird flu-stricken provinces in the Mekong Delta face a serious shortage.

To tackle the situation, the National Steering Committee for Bird Flu Control has told the Mekong Delta provinces to strictly ban the hatching of ducks and control illegal transport of poultry during the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

They have also been told to ensure all ducklings that were vaccinated once got a second shot

Ducklings of less than one month are to be culled.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has suggested compensating farmers for culling poultry.

The steering committee said Tuesday bird flu remained under control in four out of eight infected provinces and cities with Tra Vinh province being removed from the list since it had reported no new outbreaks in the last 21 days.

Three other provinces, Kien Giang, Vinh Long, and Soc Trang, too are on the verge of going off the list after no new cases were reported for two weeks.

Media campaign launched

The Vietnamese government and UNICEF launched a media campaign Wednesday to spread information about bird flu and preventive measures.

At a ceremony in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong hoped the campaign would help raise awareness of food hygiene and safety while raising and consuming poultry among the high-risk groups like farmers, health workers, breeders and, especially, children and women.

United Nations Coordinator in Vietnam, John Hendra, believed the campaign would help bolster people's fight against bird flu and help them act responsibly.

He assured that the UN and its member agencies would continue to assist Vietnam in implementing its national action plan to counter bird flu.

Source: Thanh Nien, VOV News – Compiled by Thu Thuy