A 73-year-old person from Vietnam's Hanoi capital city died of bird flu, raising the total fatality in the country since late 2004 to 19, according to local newspaper Youth Thursday.

The patient died on June 28 after being admitted to the Hanoi- based Institute of Tropical Diseases on June 23. The institute is now treating 5 bird flu patients.

The World Health Organization has just announced its bird flu experts have not found any indications to show that the bird flu virus strain H5N1 is extending its range in humans. But it advised Vietnam and other countries to remain vigilant in their bird flu control efforts, as flu viruses are inclined to change frequently.

Recently, Vietnam's Health Ministry predicted that bird flu situations in the country could become worse in upcoming winter and spring, whose weather conditions are suitable to the development of the virus.

To prevent potential outbreaks, Vietnam's Veterinary Department will focus on 3 measures, namely banning poultry raising in inner areas of cities and towns, building concentrated fowl slaughterhouses and distribution networks and vaccinating poultry against bird flu viruses, the report quoted the department head Bui Quang Anh as saying.

The ban will be imposed in 15 big cities at high risks of bird flu outbreaks, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, within this year, and then in other localities no later than 2007. The 15 cities must complete construction of concentrated slaughterhouses before 2007, and the other localities no later than 2010.

Anh said Vietnam will buy 20 million doses of bird flu vaccines in the coming time. The country will start vaccinating fowls against bird flu viruses in northern Nam Dinh province and southern Tien Giang province on a trial basis in early August, and then do the same in other localities with high risks of outbreaks in October, he noted.

Early this week, the Health Ministry confirmed that a total of 60 local people from the country's 23 localities had been infected with H5N1 since late December 2004, of whom 18 died.

Since the first bird flu patient was detected in Vietnam in late 2003, the country had detected 87 human cases of infections, including 38 fatalities, in 31 cities and provinces, the ministry said early this week.

Source: Xinhua