Hanoi, Viet Nam. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) urge Viet Nam Government and the public to keep vigilance on the H5N8 human infection upon the detection of seven farm workers infected with the influenza A(H5N8) in a chicken farm in Russia.

This is the first report of H5N8 poultry-to-human infection despite the virus having been circulating in poultry and wild birds since 2016. All the seven human cases were asymptomatic. To date, there is no evidence to suggest that severe human infections or human-to-human transmission of this virus have occurred and that this event likely represents isolated spillover of virus from infected chickens to humans.

In Viet Nam, the Department of Animal Health (DAH) has never detected H5N8 virus in their surveillance systems. DAH is going to increase testing for H5N8 virus in the national avian influenza surveillance programme starting from 2021. “Technically the H5N8 virus share antigenic characteristics with the H5N6 virus circulating in Viet Nam, the current avian influenza vaccine used in Viet Nam should remain effective to prevent the disease in poultry” stated by Dr Pawin Padungtod, the Senior Technical Coordinator, FAO Viet Nam

“Although the risk of human infection of this specific strain of avian influenza A(H5N8) in Viet Nam is very low, we must remain vigilant and continue to practice personal protective measures against avian flu,” said Dr Satoko Otsu, Team Lead, WHO Health Emergency Program in Viet Nam.

The bird flu infections in humans have been associated with direct contact with infected live or dead poultry.  “We should continue with our coordinated surveillance both at the animal and human health sectors. The public can support by reporting sick or death events in poultry as soon as possible and by practicing personal protective measures,” added Dr Otsu.

FAO and WHO Viet Nam recommend the following behaviors:

For poultry farmers

• Strengthen biosecurity measures on your farms to minimize risk of introduction;
• Follow correct vaccine schedules and ensure good nutrition for your flock health;
• Report unusual poultry death to your village heads or local animal health authority and
• Do not allow visitors on your farms.

For poultry traders and market vendors

• Only collect poultry from traceable source and sell in permitted place in markets;
• Do not sell poultry outside markets;
• Always wash your hands with clean water and soap after contacting with poultry;
• Use shoes provided by poultry farms when you need to enter production areas;
• Always clean your shoes when you exit markets and

For veterinarians and workers involved in outbreak response teams. They should consistently wear personal protective equipment when exposed to suspected or infected birds to minimize the transmission risk.

For general public

• Regularly wash hands before handling food and often during food preparation, after handling animals.
• Cook food thoroughly, especially meat, poultry and eggs.
• Wash and sanitize all surfaces and equipment used for food preparation.
• Avoid consume “tiet canh” blood pudding. , a Vietnamese specialty prepared with raw blood mainly from ducks. Avoid touching sick or dead animals.
• If you have been exposed to likely infected birds, report any symptoms to local health services if respiratory symptoms suspecting zoonotic influenza virus infection.
• Report any unusual death in birds and poultry to the animal health authority.

Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N8) have been reported in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and north Africa in recent months, but only in poultry and wild birds. Other strains of HPAI, such as H5N1, H5N6 and H7N9, have been transmitted to humans before.

HPAI H5N1 killed 64 Vietnamese people since it first occurred in 2003. No human cases deaths have been reported since 2014, but occasional outbreaks in poultry caused the culling of many chickens and ducks.

Useful resources and publication

Disease Outbreak News :https://bit.ly/3uIOv3z

OIE-FAO Network of Expertise on Animal Influenza (OFFLU) statement : https://bit.ly/3kAdBgm

Questions and Answers on H5N8: https://bit.ly/3krVOrS

Live bird market biosecurity guideline: http://www.fao.org/3/i5029o/i5029o.pdf

Good farming and biosecurity practices in ducks: https://bit.ly/37MVezu

Good farming and biosecurity practices in chicken: https://bit.ly/3smdR5o

Avian and other zoonotic influenza: https://bit.ly/2ZQQkNw  

Global Avian Influenza Update: https://bit.ly/3dNfkgY

For more information, please contact:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases
Ms Nguyen Thuy Hang
National Communications Coordinator
Tel: +84.24.32020019 (Extension 103) Email: [email protected]

World Health Organization (WHO)
Ms Tran Thi Loan Communications Assistant
Tel: 84-24-38500100 Email: [email protected]