A 32-year-old Vietnamese man infected with the H5N1 bird flu strain has died in hospital in the capital Hanoi, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, quoting the health ministry.
The man contracted the virus in Ninh Binh province, some 90 km (60 miles) south of Hanoi, after eating diseased poultry, the state-run newspaper People’s Army said earlier. He began suffering from fever on February 11 and died on February 25, it said.
This brings the number of confirmed human bird flu cases in Vietnam to 109 and the number of deaths to 54, the WHO said in a statement issued in Geneva.
A 23-year-old woman died last weekend of bird flu in Quang Ninh province, east of Hanoi.
Vietnam has reported bird flu outbreaks among poultry stocks in 11 provinces, including Ninh Binh and Quang Ninh.
Vietnam, China and Indonesia have undertaken mass poultry vaccinations but have found it difficult to ensure that free-range birds including backyard flocks are reached, WHO’s Nahoko Shindo told reporters in Geneva earlier this week.
Avian influenza has affected millions of birds around the world, particularly in East Asia, and can be caught by humans who come into contact with infected birds. Scientists fear the virus could mutate into one that spreads easily among people, unleashing a pandemic that could kill millions.