HANOI - Bird flu deaths in Asia reached 50 Wednesday when Vietnamese medical officials reported a 10-year-old girl had died in the capital.
The girl, Nguyen Hai Yen, died on March 27 in Hanoi's St Paul's hospital, a hospital doctor said, adding test reports from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology were received on Monday.
Hai lived in a district of Hanoi, said the doctor who wished to remain unnamed.
Earlier, Vietnamese authorities confirmed another death whose details have not been released but has been included in the toll of the World Health Organisation.
Since the end of 2003, the bird flu virus has killed 36 Vietnamese, 12 Thais and two Cambodians.
Vietnam last week started a month-long campaign to clean up farms and try to wipe out the bird flu virus that has killed dozens of people across the country in the past year.
The campaign would focus on "cleaning up poultry farms and cages in all provinces and cities to stop the type A flu virus from spreading," said the health ministry.
Thirty-five of Vietnam's 64 provinces and cities have been hit by the virus this year. According to a daily report by the agriculture ministry, all but two have now been clear of the disease for more than 21 days.
Health experts have warned the H5N1 virus could lead to a pandemic if it mutated into a form which could be easily transmitted between humans.
04/06/2005 06:57 GMT