Vietnam has just culled 800 chickensin the southern Long An province after detecting a number of dead fowls in the flock from Oct. 20 to 27.

    Testing for bird flu viruses in the affected chickens is underway, but the result has yet to come out, said local newspaper Labor Friday.

    To prevent bird flu spread, Long An has intensified monitoring the transport and import of fowls and their eggs. The province, one of four southern localities suffering recurrence of the deadly disease, has culled some 4,700 fowls after finding more than 3,600 chickens infected with the disease since early this month.

    Between Sept. 28 and Oct. 19, bird flu affected 6,590 chickens, 750 ducks and 2,000 quails in six communes in the provinces of Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre and Soc Trang, according to the Department of Animal Health.

    In late March this year, Vietnam declared an end to bird flu, which had killed 17 percent of its poultry population and claimed 16 human lives since its previous outbreak last December. A total of 43.2 million fowls nationwide either died or were culled, causing direct losses of 1.3 trillion Vietnamese dong (82.8 million US dollars) to the local poultry industry.