Vietnam has contained its bird flu outbreak that killed 15 people in addition to tens of millions of chickens and hopes to declare an end to the crisis by the end of March, the government said yesterday.

　　No new cases of the disease in poultry have been reported in the country since last Thursday, said Bui Quang Anh, director of the Veterinary Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

　　Fifty-three of the country's 57 bird flu-affected provinces have been free of new cases for more than a week, he added.

　　The avian influenza has killed or forced the cull of 38.3 million chickens and other fowl in Vietnam - some 15 percent of its total poultry industry, he said. A total on economic losses has not yet been calculated.

　　The H5N1 bird flu strain that jumped to humans in Vietnam and in Thailand, killing a total of 22 people, has been reported in eight Asian countries.

　　The disease has killed or prompted the cull of about 100 million birds.

　　In Vietnam, Anh warned that the disease could recur and that officials plan to be vigilant in their surveillance.

　　"The dangers for outbreak recurrence are still there from migratory birds and improper environmental treatment," he said.

　　In a report submitted to the National Assembly this week, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Vietnam plans to declare itself bird flu-free if it goes 30 days with no new cases.

　　International donors have committed to helping Vietnam rebuild its devastated poultry industry, with the World Bank offering US$10 million in aid last month.

　　Meanwhile, a chicken that died on a farm in southwestern Japan has tested positive for bird flu in preliminary results that could signal the country's fourth outbreak of the disease, officials said in Tokyo yesterday.

　　The chicken showed a "weak positive" response to the test while nine other chickens that died at the farm in the town of Kanagi in Shimane Prefecture tested negative, the prefectural government said in a statement.

　　Seventy-four chickens have died at the farm since Sunday, the statement said.

　　(The Associated Press)