Vietnam declares bird flu emergency

HANOI, Vietnam, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The government of Vietnam has announced emergency measures to prevent the spread of a bird flu epidemic from poultry to humans.

Thousands of infected birds have been culled since Type A bird flu was discovered in seven provinces, the Vietnam news service VNS reported Wednesday.

The latest province to suffer an outbreak is Bach Ninh where more than 100 ducks found dead on two farms tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered all government offices and relevant agencies to see that strict prevention measures are implemented to keep the disease from being transmitted to humans.

He also asked that research into development of a vaccine against the H5N1 strain of the virus be accelerated.