Cambodia’s PM orders officials to prevent entry of bird flu

PHNOM PENH, Feb 19, 2020, The Khmer Times. Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday advised relevant ministries and institutions to be cautious and prevent any H5N1 bird flu outbreak as the disease is currently spreading in southern Vietnam, The Khmer Times reported.

Mr Hun Sen, speaking at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh, said that the bird flu is currently spreading to chickens in southern Vietnam and relevant ministries have to take measures to prevent it from entering the Kingdom.

“Therefore, we have to be cautious about the bird flu outbreak among chickens in the Vietnamese side,” he said. “The Vietnamese people are afraid that their chickens will be culled and will try to sell their sick birds to Cambodia, causing the disease to spread in the Kingdom.”

However, Mr Hun Sen said he believes Vietnam has a high responsibility to prevent the disease from spreading to other regions or countries just like in the past when it culled thousands of pigs to prevent the spread of African Swine Fever which hit their country.

During his speech, the premier also reminded the Agriculture Ministry to strengthen farmers’ capacity to increase their cultivation of different crops and livestock to meet the domestic demand and reduce imports.

“We have to encourage our people to grow crops without using chemicals and to reduce imports from outside the country, some of which contain chemicals,” Mr Hun Sen added.

H5N1 has been detected in Vietnam’s southern Tra Vinh province, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday.

The province’s Department of Livestock and Animal Health confirmed that poultry in two villages in Cau Ke district had tested positive for the virus and about 1,000 chickens had been culled.

Vietnam News Agency added Vietnam has reported 16 outbreaks of bird flu over the past 21 days and more than 55,000 poultry had been culled.

Following Mr Hun Sen’s directive, Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon yesterday issued instructions for officials to take steps to prevent bird flu from spreading to the Kingdom.

In a directive, he advised agriculture department officials in provinces bordering Vietnam to cooperate with local authorities in strengthening control measures and prevent the import of illegal birds and bird products from across the border and through airports.

“Officials must strengthen the implementation of biosecurity measures thoroughly at all poultry farms and slaughterhouses, increase monitoring of bird health throughout the country and take timely action in suspected cases of bird flu outbreaks,” the directive said.

It also advised officials to carefully check on poultry health and sanitation before issuing animal hygiene certificates and to increase the education of farmers in the province in the practice of sanitation.

“[Officials should] cooperate with the Vietnamese side to exchange information on bird flu and transportation of birds or poultry products in order to timely and effectively prevent this disease,” the directive added.