Hanoi - A Vietnamese man has tested positive for the H5N1
avian influenza virus, the third confirmed case of bird flu in
Vietnam this year, hospital sources said Monday.
The patient is a man in his 30s from the province of Ninh Binh,
100 kilometres south of Hanoi. Doctors at Hanoi's Hospital for
Infectious and Tropical Diseases said he had been hospitalized for
five days with high fever and respiratory difficulties, and had
tested positive for bird flu on Saturday.
The patient's condition was reportedly less severe than earlier
cases this year in Vietnam, but worsening.
Vietnam's first confirmed human case of bird flu this year was a
13-year-old girl from Thanh Hoa province, 150 kilometers south of
Hanoi. The girl's older sister died on January 2 after displaying
symptoms consistent with bird flu, but was not tested for the virus.
A 23-year-old woman in Quang Ninh province, 150 kilometres west of
Hanoi, has been hospitalized with bird flu since February 3 after
eating the meat of a sick chicken.
Avian influenza has infected 106 people in Vietnam and killed 52
since it first appeared in the country in late 2003.
The disease is usually spread by contact between sick birds and
humans, but scientists fear that the virus could mutate into a form
that is easily transmissible among humans and spark a global pandemic
that could kill millions.
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