H5N1: Containing and Preventing Avian Flu in Vietnam

In a country with a poultry population over 385 million birds, controlling the Highly Pathogenetic Avian Influenza (HPAI) strain H5N1 in Vietnam is of global importance. Vietnam’s early polices of mass bird culling with no compensation had a higher socioeconomic impact on the nation’s poorer citizens who depend on poultry sales, leaving them without product to sell or the means to replace their flock that had been destroyed. This case study aims to explore the disproportionate impact on low-income residents of Vietnam in the wake of the nation’s response to H5N1 in 2004 , and highlights the evolution in bird culling as a result of the socioeconomic issues experienced by those dependent on poultry sales for survival. We discuss the viability of vaccination against H5N1 and the importance of the continued collaboration necessary to mitigate outbreaks of H5N1 and other infectious disease events of concern