Vietnam confirms baby's death by bird flu, bringing country's toll to 20
HANOI - A 14-month-old boy who died earlier this month has tested positive for bird flu, bringing the region's death toll from the disease to 30, officials said Wednesday. The infant from Thanh Tri District in Hanoi died at a local hospital Sept. 5, the 20th victim of the disease in Vietnam, the Health Ministry said.
Neighboring Thailand, the only other country with human fatalities, has reported 10 deaths and announced on Tuesday the possibility that human-to-human transmission occurred in its latest case. Most people contracting the ailment get it from infected birds.
But the World Health Organization quickly downplayed fears over possible human to human spread, suggesting it was likely a "dead-end" transmission that scientists have seen before.
The Associated Press - September 29, 2004.
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