Priority health concerns
Avian influenza (bird flu)
Malaysia reports 'highly pathogenic' bird flu
Malaysia has reported an outbreak of a highly contagious H5N1 bird flu virus in the eastern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health said on March 8, citing a report from the Malaysian agriculture ministry. The strain was confirmed among chickens at ...
Bird flu hits poultry markets in major Chinese city: Media
Authorities in China’s third-largest city warned that about 30 percent of its live poultry markets were contaminated with the H7N9 avian flu virus, as an eastern province ordered markets to shut, state media reported on February 11. East China’s Zhejiang province has ordered all markets ...
Officials investigating two avian flu outbreaks
The Ministry of Health is testing a suspected human avian flu case following an outbreak in poultry in Svay Rieng province, with experts also investigating a different avian virus – H7N3 – new to Cambodia and discovered in ducks last month in Kampong Thom province, ...
Cambodia seals health pacts with China
Cambodia and China signed agreements on December 6 to build capacity in Cambodia’s health services, expand technology and fight the spread of diseases. After the official signing of four agreements, Health Minister Mam Bun Heng said the Chinese help would include preventing the spread of threats ...
ADB loan targets health infrastructure
Myanmar is set to receive a portion of a US$117 million Asian Development Bank loan aimed at combating emerging infectious diseases. The Greater Mekong Subregion Health Security Project will target outbreaks in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The loan is meant to boost access to ...
Questions raised over vehicle spraying station
Many people are wondering what the point of the quarantine station on the Thanaleng side of the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge actually is, given that its spray station resembles a nursery water sprinkler. Ostensibly, the spray station, through which every vehicle entering Laos must pass, is to ...
How La Niña could affect the spread of Zika

La Niña is characterized by the cooling of ocean surface waters in the equatorial Pacific and affects many of the same regions as El Niño. Based on previous years, this means above-average rainfall and potential flooding in southern Africa, Southeast Asia, and northern South America, ...
Avian Flu strikes poultry farms in Sagaing division

Surveillance of the poultry trade in Sagaing Division’s Monywa Township has been ramped up after an avian flu outbreak over the past several weeks. Local authorities have since killed over 20,000 chickens and restricted poultry trade from farms in the area.“With the help of the police ...
Mekong nations build defences against bird flu
The ministries of health of Laos and other countries in the Mekong Region are taking steps to prevent and control avian influenza, or bird flu, over the next two months, in anticipation of a possible outbreak. Bird flu is an infectious disease of birds caused by ...
Nghe An culls thousands of chickens to prevent bird flu outbreak

Health authorities in the central province of Nghe An have culled more than 2,365 chicken after many of them were found infected with two dangerous strains of bird flu. Keep reading ...