Hanoi: The outbreak of the bird flu in three more Vietnam provinces has raised the total number of affected regions in the country to seven, the local daily New Hanoi reported on Wednesday.

The new cases of bird flu among fowls were detected in Vietnam's northern provinces, Tuyen Quang, Nam Dinh and Hai Duong, between Feb 16 and 18.

Around 2,500 fowls have died over the past few days in Ham Yen, Vu Ban and Thanh Mien districts of these provinces.

The seven provinces hit by bird flu are Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Tuyen Quang, Quang Binh and Long An.

The Department of Animal Health, under the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has urged the local administrations across the country to strengthen measures against bird flu.

It would also import more bird flu vaccines from China to vaccinate the poultry, the report said.

Millions of fowls were culled in the country since the outbreak of the disease in December 2003 in Vietnam.

Source : IANS