Preliminary tests by Vietnam have shown the presence of the H5N1 strain in one of three people who died from bird flu, heightening fears about the return of a virus that killed 24 people in Asia earlier this year.
Vietnam's health ministry said eight people suspected of being infected with bird flu were in hospitals and authorities are investigating other deaths in southern Hau Giang province.
Hans Troedsson, Vietnam representative of the World Health Organization, said yesterday that the ministry found that one of three bird flu samples "preliminarily shows H5N1."
The same strain killed 16 people in Vietnam and eight in Thailand earlier this year. Outbreaks of bird flu have occurred on poultry farms in several Asian countries in recent weeks.
The sample was from a victim who lived in Hau Giang province and had come into contact with poultry, he said. The other two cases in northern Ha Tay province were still being tested.
The Tuoi Tre newspaper said yesterday that the victims in Ha Tay province were a 4-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl.
The health ministry is urging the hospitalization of anyone with a high fever who had been in contact with sick poultry.
"There is no special medicine for it and no vaccine for humans," it said on Thursday.
Thailand, Vietnam, China and Indonesia have also reported fresh cases of bird flu in poultry in past weeks, re-igniting fears months after a mass culling campaign in which tens of millions of poultry were destroyed.
WHO said it was concerned that human infections would result in a mutated new virus "with pandemic potential." The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-19 killed up to 50 million people world-wide, and is thought to have come from wild birds.
A Vietnam health official said yesterday that while the H5 portion of the virus had been identified, it would take more time to identify the N subtype.
Troedsson said the test for N1 is "very sensitive and difficult" and that WHO was seeking verification of the ministry's results and offering its labs. He said WHO was prepared to fly in experts to help contain the outbreak.
The government has ordered the culling of all poultry in any area where the virus is detected. In addition, authorities are also killing birds within a 1 km radius of the areas, said Food and Agriculture Organization program officer Fabio Friscia.
In Thailand, the world's fourth-largest poultry exporter last year, officials said the virus has hit 24 of its 76 provinces since the new flare-up was reported on July 3.
Of 32 people tested in Thai hospitals after suffering fevers and respiratory problems, none showed infection by the H5N1 virus, a Thai health official said.
Fresh outbreaks of H5N1 have occurred in Indonesia, but there is no evidence so far the disease had spread to people, said Tri Satya Naipospos of the agriculture ministry.
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