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Twelve-year-old boy dies from bird flu in Vietnam

Chicken sellers are seen at their makeshift stall in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday. A 12-year-old boy has died of bird flu in Vietnam, a medical official said yesterday. PHOTO: REUTERS

Vietnamese health officials yesterday said a 12-year-old boy died of bird flu, bringing Asia's toll from the disease to 24 and dashing the country's hopes of declaring itself free of the virus by the month's end.

The boy was admitted to a hospital in the southern Tay Ninh province last Saturday and died two days later, a doctor at Tay Ninh hospital said on condition of anonymity.

On Friday, tests showed the boy had died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu, bringing the country's toll to 16, said a doctor at the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Eight Asian countries have been battling a severe form of the virus. Since December, about 100 million chickens have either died from the illness or been slaughtered. The virus has jumped to humans only in Vietnam and Thailand.

Several Asian nations have said recently that their outbreaks were coming under control -- with China this week declaring victory in its fight against the virus -- but international health officials have repeatedly warned that the Asia bird-flu crisis isn't over yet.

The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday in a joint statement that they were willing to send experts to evaluate the problem.

"In countries such as Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, further outbreaks could still flare up," the groups said. "The virus could spread again within and between countries."

Thailand, where eight people have died, declared itself bird-flu free earlier this month, but was forced to backtrack days later when officials announced another death and new cases in chickens.

Vietnam's announcement came just two days after officials there said that they planned to declare the country free of bird flu by the end of this month.

The boy suffered from diarrhea and high fever when he was admitted to a hospital and developed a serious lung infection before he died the next morning, said a doctor in Tay Ninh, 100km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

The boy's family had eaten sick chickens about five days before he became ill, she said.
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