2 Vietnamese infected with bird flu, 1 dies: repor

Two people from Vietnam's capital Hanoi have been infected with bird flu, one of whom has died, a local newspaper reported Monday.
According to imaging diagnosis of the city-based Tropical Disease Institute, two people from the district of Dong Da have been infected with the virus strain H5N1, one of whom died on Nov. 1, Ho Chi Minh City Law newspaper reported.

The alive 25-year-old patient has remained hospitalized at the institute. The person bought a chicken for meal at a local market on Oct. 28, and then developed bird flu symptoms such as high fever and difficult breathing, the report said.

Vietnam has reported no new bird flu patients since late July, Vietnamese Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan said last week. Up to 91 Vietnamese people have been infected with bird flu since the disease broke out in the country in late 2003, of whom 41 died, he noted.
Vietnam is facing a high risk of large bird flu outbreaks, especially in the southern Mekong Delta and the northern Red River delta, since weather conditions are favorable for the development of bird flu viruses, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Since early this year, Vietnam has detected bird flu outbreaks in 35 cities and provinces nationwide, which have killed or led to the forced culling of over 1.5 million fowls, mainly ducks and chickens.

Previous outbreaks starting in December 2003 killed and led to the forced culling of some 46.6 million fowls in Vietnam, causing losses of 3.5 trillion Vietnamese dong (US$221.5 million), according to the agriculture ministry.

source: Xinhua News