February 9, 2004

 

 

Two New Bird Flu Cases In Vietnam

 

Vietnamese health officials on Monday confirmed two more cases of bird flu, including one man who died, bringing the total death toll to 14 and Asia's overall death toll.

 

The latest death was a 27-year-old man from southern Binh Phuoc province, said Dr Phan Van Tu at Ho Chi Minh City's Pasteur Institute. The man died on Monday at the city's Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

 

Test results also found the H5N1 bird flu strain in a 23-year-old man from the central Lam Dong province. The man was in a stable condition at the same hospital, Tu said.

 

The deadly bird flu has been confirmed in 19 human cases in Vietnam, which has been the hardest hit of Asian countries struck by the disease. Fourteen people have died, three are hospitalised and two have recovered.

 

Five people have died in Thailand.

 

The 27-year-old man was from a family that raised chickens, three of which died and then were eaten by family members, said To Duc Sinh, director of the Preventive Medicine Centre in Binh Phuoc province.

 

The man fell ill three days after the chickens were slaughtered, Sinh said. He checked into a private clinic before being transferred to the Hospital of Tropical Diseases on Thursday.

 

In central Lam Dong province, which already has reported two casualties from bird flu, a health official said the 23-year-old man lived near a poultry market. He was admitted to the Ho Chi Minh City hospital on January 3.

 

Vietnam has slaughtered more than 20 million chickens and ducks in a bid to contain the disease, and imposed nationwide bans on the sale and transport of all poultry and poultry products.

 

However, the bird flu has already been reported in virtually all of Vietnam's 64 provinces.