Vietnam Burns Eggs Smuggled From China

Vietnam destroyed 8,400 chicken eggs smuggled in from China, trying to prevent a repeat of Hong Kong’s bird flu outbreak, authorities said Tuesday.

The eggs were seized in Ho Chi Minh City as a woman was about to bring them into the Chinatown area, an official from the city Veterinary Department said.

The woman, who said she got the eggs from a trader in the capital, Hanoi, was stopped Sunday and found to lack the proper quarantine certificate. The eggs eventually were traced back to China, and destroyed by burning.

Vietnam has not reported any cases of the illness, which claimed six lives in Hong Kong last year. The Hong Kong outbreak was the first time the flu, which afflicts poultry, was known to have sickened humans.

Fearing the flu would spread, Vietnam decided last month to ban the import of livestock or eggs from China, as well as from Italy and Australia.