Vietnam yesterday reported another human death from bird flu, bringing the toll to 10 people over the past month as officials scramble to control the latest outbreak of the virus that scientists fear could give rise to the next pandemic.
Doctors also said two additional people were sickened with the virus, bringing the number of people stricken with the avian flu to 15 in the current wave of infections.
PHOTO: AFP
The latest victim was a 32-year-old man from northern Phu Tho province who died Thursday after spending five days in Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, a doctor there said on condition of anonymity.
The man had developed a high fever, coughing and breathing difficulties on Jan. 12, said Nguyen Dinh Trong, director of Phu Tho provincial Preventive Medicine Center.
Doctors were still trying to determine how he caught the disease, which is usually traced to direct contact with sick birds.
The World Health Organization has warned that if the virus alters and becomes easily spread from person-to-person, it could spark a global pandemic.
However, there is no evidence that the virus has undergone such a mutation yet.
The man's family raised poultry, but none of them have shown signs of illness, Trong said, adding that there were no bird flu outbreaks reported among poultry in his village.
Trong, however, said the man was involved in the trade of poultry from infected areas six months ago, but has stopped since then.
Meanwhile, two other men, ages 66 and 30, from Hanoi and Hung Yen province respectively, tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu and remained in stable condition yesterday, said the doctor at Bach Mai Hospital.
On Thursday, officials said two girls, ages 10 and 13, tested positive for the virus in southern Vietnam and remained in critical condition yesterday.
The older girl's mother died from the disease last week after the two of them slaughtered a duck.
Since Dec. 30, at least 10 people have died of bird flu in Vietnam. The virus emerged last year, spreading rapidly through poultry farms of Asia, killing or forcing the cull of millions of birds in 10 countries, and jumping to humans in Vietnam and Thailand.
Over the past year, bird flu has killed 30 people in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand.
Vietnam is struggling to contain its latest outbreak of bird flu ahead of next month's Lunar New Year celebrations, when thousands of people are on the move. Chicken is traditionally served during new year feasts.
WHO was not expected to issue any travel advisories for people visiting Vietnam, despite the more than 200,000 overseas Vietnamese expected to return home to visit relatives during the holiday.
But Hans Troedsson, WHO representative in Vietnam, said visitors should avoid all contact with sick birds and only eat poultry products that have been thoroughly cooked.
Last year Vietnam banned the sale and transport of poultry during the holiday.
No bans have been put in place this year, but animal health officials have advised people to wear masks and gloves when slaughtering poultry and to avoid handling birds if they have any type of open wounds on their skin.
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