A local woman died of bird flu Wednesday morning, the second of its like since mid-November 2005, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The woman from northern Ha Nam province died at the Tropical Disease Hospital in Hanoi capital after 13 days of treatment. The first bird flu fatality was a 20-year-old man from northern Ha Tay province, who exhibited bird flu symptoms on June 2, was admitted to the hospital on June 8, and died on June 10.

Since late 2005, Vietnam has confirmed five human cases of bird flu infections, of whom two have died, two from the northern provinces of Vinh Phuc and Thanh Hoa have been discharged from hospital, and one from northern Thai Nguyen province has still been under treatment at the hospital.

All of the bird flu patients have either had direct contact with or eaten dead fowls, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan said recently, noting that H5N1 has yet to mutate, and medicine Tamiflu is still effective in treating bird flu patients.

Now, specimens from a 50-year-old man named Chu Minh Nguyen from northern Lang Son province are being tested for bird flu virus strain H5N1. He ate fowls in early June, showed bird flu symptoms on June 9, was admitted to a hospital in northern Bac Giang province on June 13 and died on June 14 on the way to the hospital in Hanoi, according to the Bac Giang Preventive Medicine Center.

Source: Xinhua