Hanoi - A man suffering from bird flu died Friday morning

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Hanoi - A man suffering from bird flu died Friday morning, the second death in two days and the third since the beginning of the year, a Vietnamese official said. The 27-year-old man had been admitted to a hospital in Ninh Binh province, 120 kilometers south of Hanoi, on Monday, and transferred to Hanoi the following day, according to Dinh Quoc Su, head of Ninh Binh's Animal Health Department.

The Ministry of Health announced late Thursday that the man had tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus.

Su said Doan and his family had eaten chicken bought at a local market during Tet, the Vietnamese lunar New Year's festival, which began on February 7.

He said local authorities had disinfected Doan's neighborhood and were trying to find out exactly where he had bought the chicken.

"Neither Doan's wife nor his 4-year-old son have shown any bird flu-like symptoms, but doctors are monitoring them," Su said.

Bird flu killed a 41-year-old man from northern Hai Duong province on Wednesday and a 32-year-old man from northern Tuyen Quang province in January. The latest death has raised the overall toll from H5N1 in Vietnam to 50 since bird flu first appeared in the country in 2003.

"The risk that bird flu will spread among poultry, and also to humans, is very high now," Nguyen Huy Nga, head of Vietnam's Preventive Medicine Department, said Thursday. "The weather is cold and a large number of poultry have been transported and slaughtered since Tet."

Nga said authorities have warned the population not to eat sick or dead poultry, and to see a doctor immediately in case of cough or fever.

H5N1 mainly affects poultry and wild birds, but can infect humans who have close contact with sick fowl. Scientists fear that if it spreads unchecked, the disease could mutate into a form which could be transmitted between humans, leading to a worldwide pandemic that could kill millions.

Source: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/185937,bird-flu-kills-second-vietnamese-in-two-days.html

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 Vietnam reports additional bird flu fatality
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-15 21:05:24         Print

    HANOI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- A man from Vietnam's northern Ninh Binh province died from bird flu Friday morning, raising the total number of bird flu fatalities in the country since December 2003 to 50, according to a report of Central Vietnam Television.

    The 27-year-old man named Hoang Van Doan was admitted to the Bach Mai Hospital in the capital Hanoi on Feb. 12. He slaughtered chickens for meal on Feb. 5.

    The Vietnamese Health Ministry on Feb. 13 confirmed a death of a 40-year-old man from northern Hai Duong province, who died on Feb. 13 after four days of treatment in the capital city, was infected with bird flu virus strain H5N1. The man named Do Van Sanslaughtered dead fighting chickens for meal before exhibiting bird flu symptoms on Feb. 2, said the TV report.

    Late last month the ministry confirmed that a 32-year-old ethnic man named Tran Van Dong from northern Tuyen Quang province died from bird flu on Jan. 18. He slaughtered and ate dead fowls raised by his family for meal.

    In late December 2007, after detecting no human cases of bird flu infections for nearly four months, the ministry confirmed that a four-year-old boy from northern Son La province died from bird flu on Dec. 16, 2007.

    To date, Vietnam has reported a total of 104 human cases of bird flu infections, including 50 fatalities, since the disease started to hit the country in December 2003.

    Vietnam currently has four localities having poultry being hit by bird flu: northern Thai Nguyen, central Quang Binh province, northern Quang Ninh province and southern Long An province, the Department of Animal Health under the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Thursday.

    Bird flu killed 685 fowls in a flock in Quang Ninh's Mong Cai town from Feb. 12-13, and 150 ducks in Long An's Ben Luc district on Feb. 9, the department said, noting that their specimens were tested positive to H5N1.

    Bird flu outbreaks in Vietnam, starting in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country.