Hundreds of poultry in Vietnam's central Da Nang city have died over the past few days, prompting the local veterinary authorities to cull tens of thousands of fowls.

Over 100 chickens and ducks have died in the district of Lien Chieu, and more than 100 quails have died in the district of Cam Le, according to the city's Anti-Bird flu Steering Committee on Monday.

Although the veterinary authorities have yet to define the deaths' cause, they have already ordered to cull a large number of chickens, ducks and quails in the city's inner areas. As of late Sunday, Da Nang had culled 11,000 poultry.

The People's Committee of Da Nang on Nov. 10 stipulated that no fowls are raised in the areas after Nov. 11. The committee on Nov. 12 set up an anti-bird flu team comprising of 46 military officers, soldiers, policemen, veterinary cadres and local volunteers.

Since Oct. 1, bird flu has been spotted in 10 localities in northern, central and southern localities, namely Bac Lieu, Dong Thap, Quang Nam, Bac Giang, Thanh Hoa, Hanoi, Hai Duong, Ninh Binh, Hung Yen and Hai Phong, killing and leading to the forced culling of some 38,000 fowls.

Previous outbreaks starting in December 2003 killed and led to the forced culling of some 46.6 million fowls in Vietnam, causing losses of 3.5 trillion Vietnamese dong (221.5 million US dollars).

Vietnam has detected 65 human cases of bird flu infections, including 22 fatalities, in 25 cities and provinces since December 2004, the Vietnamese Health Ministry announced on Nov. 11, noting that the accumulated numbers of bird flu infections and fatalities after December 2003 reached 92 and 42, respectively.