A batch of bird’s nest products made by the Yen Viet Joint-stock Company in southern Ninh Thuan province has been certified to be free of the avian influenza H5N1 virus and safe.

(photo: baocongthuong)

The certificate for bird’s nest products is the first of its kind in Vietnam, said Director of the Veterinary Medical Agency Region VI Nguyen Xuan Binh on May 15.

The same day, the agency and Yen Viet, one of the leading producers of bird’s nest products in Vietnam , signed a cooperation document that details periodical tests for the company’s finished products, as well as all of its raw bird’s nests.

In April, Ninh Thuan province culled nearly 10,000 swallows following tests that showed they had the H5N1 virus.

The birds account for nearly 10 percent of those bred at 592 Thong Nhat Street, Phan Rang – Thap Cham city, by the Yen Viet, where over 4,000 swallows died between March 28 and early April.

The province then announced the epidemic on April 19 and took measures to disinfect the breeding area.

Later on May 13, it officially announced that swallows raised in Phan Rang-Thap Cham city's Dao Long district were free of bird flu.

Binh said though the H5N1 epidemic on swallows was over its information left negative impacts on the bird’s nest market.

He also noted that it is groundless to say that consumers could face risks of catching the flu virus from bird’s nest products because the processing procedures of the products are strict and complex.      

Source: VNA