Press reports note that numerous outbreaks of H5N6 highly pathogenic avian influenza have been diagnosed in diverse areas of Viet Nam.  Cases have been reported in Northern Provinces adjacent to China and in southern areas resulting in disposal of numerous small flocks.

Subsistence and non-commercial chickens and ducks are susceptible to avian influenza based on exposure to free-living birds, inadequate biosecurity and infection through the live sales system directed to wet markets in metropolitan areas.  Reports to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) suggests that the frequency of diagnoses over the past five years denote that HPAI is endemic in Viet Nam as it is in most South East Asian countries.