HANOI, Jan 5 (AFP) - A boy in southern Vietnam has died from suspected bird flu, the lethal strain of virus that has killed at least 20 people in the communist nation since late 2003, officials said Wednesday.
Nine-year-old Thach Phung, from Cang Long district of the southern province of Tra Vinh died on Tuesday night, Luong Van Minh, Deputy Director of Tra Vinh provincial hospital told AFP.
He was initially treated at the provincial clinic, then transferred to the Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday.
"Tests in Ho Chi Minh City's Pasteur Institute before his death showed that the boy was positive to H5N1 virus," Minh said, adding that the final conclusion from authorised health officials, however, was not yet available.
The doctor confirmed that the boy had been in direct contact with infected poultry in his native village before being treated in hospital for high fever.
Another 16-year-old girl from Tay Ninh southern province, confirmed positive to H5N1, is in a critical condition in Ho Chi Minh City.
"Tests revealed that she had contracted the H5N1 virus. She is suffering from an acute respiratory failure and has not got better since she was admitted," Truong Trong Hoang, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City health department said on Tuesday without giving the girl's name.
The World Health Organization in Hanoi has said it was closely monitoring the girl's situation.
New outbreaks of bird flu have been reported in 11 provinces in Vietnam, mostly in the Mekong Delta, and including one in the north.
At least 22,000 poultry have been culled since December to try to contain the disease, according to local officials.
"The demand for poultry consumption always booms when Vietnamese people prepare for the traditional lunar new year festival in early February," animal health department director, Bui Quang Anh, warned Wednesday.
"However, the cold and humid weather has facilitated the spreading of bird flu in the country in this period," he said.
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has ordered a ban on the transportation of sick poultry from affected areas to stamp out avian flu outbreaks and asked concerned authorities to step up their vigilance, particularly in regions along the border with China.
The government said in October that it had brought bird flu under control.
It had made a similar announcement on March 30 but later admitted that the declaration had been premature after three people, including two children, died in August after being infected with the H5N1 virus.
International experts said avian influenza has entrenched itself in much of Asia and is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
01/05/2005 03:54 GMT - AFP