(Reuters) - The Vietnamese government said it had halted the nationwide vaccination of poultry against bird flu, saying a new type of the H5N1 virus had rendered the vaccine ineffective.
"Based on post-vaccination surveillance results, a new clade of the H5N1 virus has appeared in Vietnam since 2010," the government said in a statement issued late on Thursday.
Vietnam had planned to use a vaccine imported from China for its vaccination this year, but the vaccine did not work against the new variety, the Animal Health Department said.
The new type has been circulating in northern provinces, coastal provinces in the central region as well as in the Central Highlands, it said.
The old type of the virus remains active in southern provinces, it said in a report this week.
Vietnam has detected no human cases of bird flu in 2011 but several provinces across the country have reported outbreaks in ducks and chicken.
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