Influenza A/H7N9 is nearing the border.

Poultry in Guangxi Province (China) have been found to contain the A/H7N9 influenza virus. With only a border separating Vietnam, and amidst ongoing illegal poultry trade, the risk of the disease entering Vietnam is imminent.

Speaking to the press on February 11th, Mr. Tran Dac Phu, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), said that as of this time, China has recorded 330 cases of influenza A/H7N9, including 65 deaths. The number of influenza patients has been on the rise since the beginning of 2014.

The A/H7N9 influenza epidemic situation in China continues to be extremely complex and has worsened compared to 2013.

Meanwhile, Guangxi province (China), which shares a border with Vietnam, has tested positive for the A/H7N9 influenza virus in its poultry flocks.

Other regions such as Hong Kong and Taiwan have also reported cases after people returned from mainland China. Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not recommended travel restrictions but has advised people to avoid poultry markets.

Mr. Phu assessed that, in the above context, the fact that Vietnam has not recorded any cases of A/H7N9 influenza "is a great effort," but it is also unknown to what extent this can be maintained.

The measles outbreak is not unusual.

Regarding the resurgence of measles in many localities, Mr. Tran Dac Phu stated that isolating measles cases is necessary but difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to organize a suitable vaccination campaign. In August, the health sector will also organize a measles and rubella vaccination campaign for all children under 2 years old.

According to Mr. Phu, the current measles outbreak is nothing unusual, but follows the normal 3-5 year cycle of outbreaks. Currently, the measles vaccination rate nationwide is high. If the first dose is given, about 85% of children have immunity; if a second dose is given, this increases to 90%. Therefore, each year, an excess of 5-10% of vaccinated children still contract the disease, and this accumulates during the cycle, leading to an outbreak.

"The current difficulty is that the A/H7N9 avian influenza outbreak occurs in poultry flocks but does not show symptoms like with A/H5N1 influenza. If the disease enters Vietnam, with the current small-scale and spontaneous farming practices, prevention and control efforts will be difficult," Mr. Phu stated.

To prevent the risk of disease entering Vietnam, Mr. Phu believes that the key is to effectively manage the disease in poultry flocks, especially in preventing and controlling smuggled poultry.

Currently, in the plan for preventing and controlling the A/H7N9 influenza epidemic, the four epidemic scenarios are still developing as predicted, and prevention and control efforts continue (monitoring incoming travelers using remote temperature scanners, monitoring people with pneumonia in hospitals, collecting samples for testing, and deploying a key influenza surveillance system in the provinces).

Currently, several types of influenza are active simultaneously. Mr. Phu stated that both the WHO and Vietnam are monitoring for the emergence of new strains, taking samples to analyze the virulence of each strain (including older strains) to see if the virus has undergone genetic mutation into a highly virulent strain.

Regarding the A/H10N8 influenza outbreak, Professor Nguyen Tran Hien, Director of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, stated that the health sector has recently tested many cases of severe pneumonia suspected to be caused by avian influenza virus infection. However, to date, there have been no cases of H10N8 influenza infection in humans in Vietnam.

Prime Minister: Striving to prevent the A/H7N9 influenza virus from entering the country.

On February 10, 2014, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung issued a directive urging the implementation of tasks after the Lunar New Year holiday of the Year of the Horse 2014.

The Prime Minister's directive requested the Ministry of Health to strengthen its guidance on disease prevention and control, especially for diseases at risk of outbreaks during the winter-spring season, striving to prevent the A/H7N9 influenza and other dangerous diseases from entering Vietnam from abroad; to strengthen food safety and hygiene, prevent food poisoning, and monitor food safety at tourism businesses and festivals; to ensure sufficient personnel, medicines, equipment, and facilities for medical examination and treatment to serve the people, and to continue to improve the sense of responsibility and dedication to serving patients.

According to Vietnam.Net