Despite its success in bird flu control, Vietnam is making efforts to prevent the epidemic's recurrence by using combined measures, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat at the signing ceremony.

To this end, Vietnam has develop a national programme on bird flu and human influenza by 2010, covering the application of general preventive measures to fight the epidemic, with decontamination playing the most important role, especially when an outbreak occurs, the minister added.

Vietnam has reported no new bird flu outbreak in the last five months. The risk of epidemic recurrence, however, is still high due to the presence of the H5N1 virus in the environment, experts warn.