Roughly 13 percent of waterfowls in Vietnam have bird flu virus strain H5N1, local newspaper Labor reported Wednesday.

    Tests show that nearly 21.7 percent of waterfowls in capital Hanoi, 21.2 percent in northern Bac Ninh province, and over 7.6 percent in northern Bac Giang province carry the virus, the paper quoted the Central Veterinary Diagnosis Center as saying.

    To prevent the disease´s spread, Vietnam is intensifying bird flu vaccination among poultry and tightening fowl trade, transport and production.

    Vietnam has planned to import additional 500 million doses of bird flu vaccines for fowls, expected to be used in the 2007-2008 period.

    The country has so far this year vaccinated 136.8 million fowls, including nearly 79.7 million chickens, 53.7 million ducks and roughly 3.5 million white-winged ducks, according to the Department of Animal Health under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

    Bird flu, starting to strike Vietnam in December 2003, has hit 16 Vietnamese cities and provinces nationwide since early May.