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HANOI, Mar 20 (AFP): Vietnam has ordered tighter controls along its Chinese border to stop illegal poultry imports into the country that has seen no new bird flu cases in the past three months, an official said Monday.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem had sent an urgent order to authorities to step up border checks and punish smugglers more severely, said an agriculture ministry official who refused to be named.
"He asked for strict punishment of people who illegally import poultry, mostly chickens, from border areas, mainly China," the official said without elaborating.
Smugglers carrying poultry and eggs from China have recently attacked Vietnamese border guards, leaving five soldiers injured in one incident at the weekend, the English-language Vietnam News daily reported Monday.
Khiem at the weekend called for "close coordination between customs, market management and border soldiers to control poultry imports and trade via border crossings," the news report said.
Vietnam launched a new vaccination campaign in mid February in northern Nam Dinh and southern Tien Giang provinces, using 150 million doses of bird flu vaccine imported from China.
No new bird flu cases have been reported in Vietnam over the past three months, but officials warn that the deadly H5N1 strain could reappear anytime amid the widespread transport and sale of chicken and other poultry.
The virus has killed almost 100 people in seven countries since 2003. Vietnam leads the list with 42 human deaths compared to 10 in China.
Scientists fear a global bird flu pandemic could kill millions if the virus mutates and becomes easily transmissible between humans.
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