The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the number of Vietnam's confirmed bird flu deaths by one to four, saying a five-year-old boy who died this month was found to have been carrying the virus.
The UN health agency, which is helping Vietnam battle the fast-spreading disease, said the boy, from Nam Dinh province, died on Jan. 8. Nam Dinh is about 100km south of the capital Hanoi.
"WHO now counts four confirmed cases of H5N1 in Vietnam," the agency said in a statement issued late on Friday, referring to the bird flu virus.
The virus continues to infect more people in Vietnam.
Vietnamese hospital officials in southern Kien Giang province yesterday said a 21-year-old woman admitted on Jan. 11 and a 25-year-old man hospitalized two days later showed all the symptoms of influenza A, or the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
They had high fevers, coughs, low blood pressure and low levels of blood cells, symptoms of influenza A, a doctor said on condition of anonymity.
It is the first time suspected human cases have been reported in the south, where the bulk of the bird infections have been. Authorities in the southern Mekong Delta have slaughtered more than a million chickens so far in an attempt to stop the flu's spread.
The two people had not traveled recently outside the province, where no poultry sickened by bird flu have been reported, the doctor said.
Also, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported yesterday that three 1-year-old babies from Hanoi and two surrounding provinces suspected of contracting the virus were admitted to a pediatric hospital in the last two days. Two of them are in serious condition and are on respirators, it said.
Hospital officials declined to comment.
The WHO has four experts advising the government on how to stem the disease.
More experts from the WHO, as well as from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Agriculture Organization were expected to arrive in coming days, the WHO said.
There has been a rise in respiratory cases in Hanoi's hospitals but these have not been proven to be bird flu, the UN health agency said.
Vietnam's flu cases have occurred in the north, while the bird flu has struck the south. It is unclear how the people were infected.
South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have also reported outbreaks of bird flu, but Vietnam has been the hardest hit.
Thailand, one of the world's biggest chicken producers, says it has no bird flu but will inspect every poultry farm in the country to halt the spread of cholera among chickens, a top Thai official said on Friday.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
RSS