Vietnam's Health Ministry has confirmed that a 30-year-old man has become the country's latest bird flu patient after 17-month absence of human infections, local newspaper People reported on Friday.

The man named Phung Minh Phuc from Me Linh district, northern Vinh Phuc province showed bird flu symptoms on May 10 after slaughtering chickens for a wedding party. The patient, under treatment at the Bach Mai Hospital in capital Hanoi, has lost consciousness and had to use a respirator.

On May 24, the hospital and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said specimens from the man were tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1.

Vietnam has detected 93 bird flu patients, including 42 fatalities, since the disease started to hit the country in December 2003, the Ministry said on May 15.

Vietnam has seen no new human cases of infections since mid-November 2005.

To date, Vietnam has reported a total of 94 human cases of bird flu infections. However, the World Health Organization has yet to confirm the latest case of Phung Minh Phuc.

Source: Xinhua