(VNA): Vietnam has taken comprehensive measures to prevent and fight bird flu, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat.

 At the second regional meeting on avian influenza control in animals which opened in Ho Chi Minh City on February 23, Phat also said that the country's efforts had contributed to regional countries' success in controlling the disease.

 Samuel Jutzi, the Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) director of animal production and health, warned, "The avian influenza will persist for many years in some of the countries that have had disease outbreaks in 2004-2005."

 He called on affected countries to equip themselves with effective diagnostic devices and develop an efficient quarantine system in order to promptly detect and contain the disease. 

 He said these countries are in dire need of technical and financial assistance to conduct research and analysis on the disease spread mechanism, while their veterinary sectors are requesting modern diagnostic equipment and help in producing a low-cost, safe and effective vaccine against the disease.

Therefore, the FAO official appealed to the international community to reply to those affected countries' urgent demands.

 "It is in the interest of both developed and developing countries to invest in the control and containment of avian influenza," Jutzi said, adding that this is aimed at protecting people's health and ensuring food security in these countries.

 More than 150 delegates from 30 countries are attending the three-day meeting jointly organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the World Health Organisation.

 They reviewed bird flu developments in the region and measures taken to deal with the disease over the past 12 months. They also made scientific presentations on achievements in discovering, inspecting, preventing and controlling the disease. Issues relating to economic development, international co-operation and people's health were also mentioned at the meeting.

 The meeting is an opportunity for regional countries to share experiences in bird flu control and in protecting humans from the disease.

 Apart from calling upon international organisations to support the fight against the disease, the meeting will provide up-to-date information to help countries strengthen their capacity for controlling the avian influenza.

 The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry's Veterinary Department reported that by February 21, no new outbreaks have been found in 12 out of 35 bird flu-affected provinces and cities in Vietnam in the past 21 days. The provinces and cities free from the outbreak include Kien Giang, Ninh Binh, Ha Nam, Binh Phuoc, Ninh Thuan, Lam Dong, Quang Binh, Thai Nguyen, Nghe An, Dong Nai and Tien Giang provinces, and HCM City.