Authorities in central Thua Thien-Hue Province discovered the first cases of H5N6 avian flu outbreak at two family-run farms in Phu Loc District.

Infected ducks are taken to a landfill site. 

According to a report by the province’s Department of Husbandry and Veterinary, a total of 5,500 ducklings tested positive for the H5N6 avian infection and other 1,000 dead ducklings were buried at the landfill site on Monday.

The ducklings were raised at farms run by the families of Truong Thanh Truong in the district’s Loc An Commune and Dang Huong in Loc Hoa Commune. The ducks were 20 days old.

Truong and Huong found the dead ducks on Sunday. There were some 1,000 dead ducks at each farm.

The farm owners said they bought the ducklings from Hà Nội and suspected that the animals were infected with the virus before their arrival at their farms.

Nguyen Viet Hung, the department’s director, said all the ducklings were buried in at a designated landfill site and his staff had conducted fumigation spraying at the farms and surrounding areas to prevent the flu from spreading.

Hung also warned the farm owners to conduct a stricter vaccination regime for their poultry and husbandry to avoid loss. 

In the current cases, Truong and Huong incurred estimated losses of some VNĐ200 million (US$8,800) each from the buried ducks. 

VNS