Ninth victim dies of bird flu in Vietnam
HANOI - Vietnamese officials on Monday said tests had confirmed that an 18-year-old boy died from bird flu, becoming the country's ninth victim to die from the disease now raging through the region.
The teenager, from the Koho ethnic minority group in the Central Highlands, died early Monday, said Tran Tinh Hien, deputy director of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City where the boy was admitted on Jan. 29.
"Test results on Saturday showed that the boy was positive for the H5N1 strain of the bird flu," he said. The tests were conducted at the hospital, which is one of only three labs in the country that can test for bird flu.
Vietnam has previously reported 10 confirmed cases of the bird flu virus in human — eight of whom had died. All but three were children under 14.
The WHO said Monday it has not yet confirmed the latest case.
The teenager, who is from Lam Dong province, is the first case reported from Vietnam's Central Highlands region. Eight bird flu cases have been in the north and two from Ho Chi Minh City.
Tran Manh Ha, director of Lam Dong provincial Department of Preventive Medicine, said the family's neighbors told health officials that the family ran a restaurant and chickens feathers were found in the house, he said. Health officials are still unclear how the teen got infected.
Vietnam has been hardest hit by the bird flu that has spread to 10 countries in Asia. More than two-thirds of the provinces around the country have reported outbreaks, which has killed or forced the slaughter of about 9 million chickens and ducks.
By Emma Ross - The Associated Press - February 02, 2004.
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