HANOI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has just set up eight Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to deal with the situation of avian bird flu H7N9.
Dam Xuan Thanh, deputy chief of the the ministry's Department of Animal Health said on local Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper on Friday that the virus is dangerous as it causes no clinical symptoms on infected poultries but can cause a mortality rate of 40 percent if it is transmitted to humans.
More samples of poultry and surrounding environment will be taken and tested, said Thanh.
In a related move, Vietnamese capital Hanoi's health department has launched two hotlines to help prevent the spread of avian flu to humans.
Local residents should call the two hotlines if they suspect a facility is trading poultry that was illegally imported, has unclear origins or shows signs of disease.
The number of human A/H7N9 cases has increased steadily in neighboring countries, posing a high risk of the virus entering Vietnam. The weather has also created favorable conditions for the spread of respiratory and bird flu diseases, said the department.
