HO CHI MINH CITY, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's southern Ben Tre province has seen the first outbreak of A/H5N6 bird flu which has led to the culling of 1,000 chickens.

The outbreak was spotted in Mo Cay Nam district, and then tests confirmed that the flock of fowls raised by a household were infected with the bird flu virus, Vietnam News Agency on Sunday quoted the provincial Department of Livestock and Animal Health as saying.

Relevant local agencies have culled the chickens, disinfected surrounding areas and intensified vaccination among fowls in the province.

In late July, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that outbreaks of A/H5N6 and A/H5N1 bird flu had been reported in 13 communes of 11 localities from the start of 2019, leading to the culling of more than 23,000 poultry.

The bird flu is forecast to widely spread in the remaining months of this year due to changing weather and surging poultry transportation ahead of the lunar new year holiday.

Vietnam first detected bird flu virus strain of A/H5N1 in December 2003 on both humans and fowls. More than 45 million poultry in Vietnam were culled between 2003 and 2006. Since then, hundreds of thousands of fowls have been killed each year.

In the 2004-2014 period, 127 people in Vietnam were infected with H5N1, including 64 fatalities, according to the ministry. The country has detected no new human cases of H5N1 infection since 2014. Enditem

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