Two people from Vietnam's northern Thai Nguyen have been hospitalized after exhibiting bird flu symptoms, according to local newspaper Youth on Tuesday.

The Tropical Disease Hospital in Hanoi capital are treating the two suspected cases of bird flu infections, and their specimens are being tested for bird flu virus strain H5N1 by the country's National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute.

The country's Health Ministry has asked preventive medicine centers, Pasteur institutes and hygiene and epidemiology institutes nationwide to establish hotlines to receive bird flu information from the community. The ministry is also coordinating with the World Health Organization to probe into the possibility of H5N1 mutation, said the newspaper.

Since late May, Vietnam has confirmed two local men, one from Thai Nguyen and other from northern Vinh Phuc province, as the two latest cases of bird flu infections in the country since mid- November 2005

The man from Thai Nguyen's Pho Yen district, who worked at a poultry slaughterhouse in the capital city on May 14, developed bird flu symptoms five days later, and was admitted to the hospital on May 19, is now recovering. The man named Phung Minh Phuc from Vinh Phuc, showing bird flu symptoms on May 10 after having slaughtered chickens for a wedding party, is recovering well.

Vietnam has reported a total of 95 human cases of bird flu infections, including 42 fatalities, since the disease started to hit the country in December 2003. However, the World Health Organization has yet to confirm the two latest cases.

Source: Xinhua