One more Vietnamese dies of bird flu

A person from Vietnam's Hanoi capital, who died late last month, has just been confirmed to be infected with bird flu virus strain H5, local newspaper Young People on Thursday quoted the national anti-bird flu committee as saying.

The person from the rural district of Soc Son died of acute pneumonia on Aug. 28, the committee said. Since the first bird flu patient was detected in Vietnam in late 2003, up to 92 human cases of infections, including 42 fatalities, have been reported in 31 cities and provinces. Vietnam's Health Ministry has yet to confirm the last several cases.

Late last month, the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed specimens from three rare civets born in captivity in the Cuc Phuong National Park in northern Ninh Binh province, which died late June, were infected with bird flu virus strain H5N1. This is the first time the virus has been found in civets, it said.

According to local veterinary agencies, up to 70 percent of waterfowls in the southern Mekong delta have been recently tested positive to H5N1. Vietnam has culled over 1,300 fowls in 8 localities of Dong Thap, Ben Tre, Can Tho, Tra Vinh, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Bac Ninh and Hanoi since early April.

The country is conducting bird flu vaccination for fowls, mainly chickens and ducks, in 47 out of 64 cities and provinces. The total fund for vaccinating over 200 million fowls in the 2005- 2006 period is estimated at 700 billion Vietnamese dong (44.3 million US dollars).

Source: Xinhua