Duck husbandry practices and farmers? Beliefs about avian influenza in South Vietnam

Vietnam is one of the countries that experienced the highest economic and human loss from highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 outbreaks. Poultry farmers may be at increased risk of avian influenza because of their regular contact with poultry. The goal of this project was to learn about duck husbandry practices and to elicit information about beliefs about avian influenza among duck farmers in Vietnam. Qualitative data were collected from 4 focus groups with 40 duck farmers in South Vietnam. Field observations were also made of 3 duck farming grounds. Audio files were transcribed and translated from Vietnamese to English and the text narratives were analyzed. Scavenging duck farming, where ducks are herded to rice fields to search for food, is a common practice. Knowledge about the transmission of H5N1 was generally low. Recognizing symptoms of bird flu from other poultry diseases was problematic. Risky poultry handling practices, such as limited use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves and masks, and lack of frequent hand wash after contact with poultry, and preparing sick or dead ducks for eating, were prevalent among participants. Farmers believed their risk of bird flu infection was low and described numerous barriers to using PPE and hand hygiene, which include discomfort, inconvenience, and unavailability of PPE. Findings suggest intervention at the grassroots level is needed to increase awareness about the risk and severity of avian influenza to humans.