June 12, 2007

Vietnam bird flu patient recovers; More avian outbreaks likely
 

Vietnam's first bird flu patient in 18 months has fully recovered, but more outbreaks among poultry are likely nationwide, officials and state-controlled media reported Tuesday.

The 30-year-old man from northern Vinh Phuc province was discharged from Bach Mai hospital Monday where he had been treated for nearly a month, said Hospital Director Tran Thuy Hanh.

A second bird flu victim who was hospitalised in late May is still being treated at the Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat warned that more outbreaks could occur among poultry. 16 provinces have been hit since early May, killing or forcing the slaughter of more than 100,000 birds, Tuesday's Saigon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper reported.

Phat blamed the latest outbreaks on virus-carrying waterfowl and the local authorities' failure to fight it aggressively, it said.

Bird flu has killed at least 190 people since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in 2003, 42 of them in Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization.

The virus remains difficult for people to catch, but experts fear it could eventually mutate to a form that spreads more easily between humans, sparking a global pandemic that could kill millions.