Biological Agents
Vietnam confirms a human death from bird flu
By Ben Wasserman
Jun 17, 2007 - 10:32:39 AM

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Vietnam confirmed a man died of bird flu, the first human death from the disease since November 2005 in the country, Vietnamese state media reported on Saturday.

The latest death brings the total of deaths from bird flu in Vietnam to 43.

The man, 20 with his name unknown, from Ha Tay province, bordering Hanoi, died of the H5N1 virus on Sunday, June 10, at the capital's National Contagious and Tropical Diseases Hospital, the Vietnam News Agency was cited as saying.

"The man was diagnosed (with) catching the virus on June 2 and moved to the Hanoi hospital six days later," the agency reported.  

"He became the first Vietnamese to die of the deadly virus after 17 months (during which) the country successfully contained the epidemic."

Four other people have been reported early infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus in Vietnam. Two have recovered and two are still being treated.

Vietnam is known for its aggressive measures taken to protect against the spread of the bird flu.    Culling and mass vaccination are two measures the government used to have successfully gotten previous bird flu outbreaks since 2003 under control.  

The early outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu are believed to have infected 94 and killed at least 42 people in Vietnam, but no more deaths have been reported since November 2005, media reported.  

A recent wave of outbreaks has killed or led to culling of more than 50,000 birds.    Bird flu has reportedly spread rapidly to 14th province in northern Vietnam, according to a government posting, cited by the Associated Press.  

H5N1 is highly pathogenic or virulent. But it is largely a disease o f birds.    It is not easy for people to get infected and it's particularly hard for the virus to spread from human to human as it's too lethal to spread from one host to another.  

According to the World Health Organization , the H5N1 strain has killed at least 187 people worldwide.    Experts and government officials worldwide are worried that persistent outbreaks may create an opportunity for the virus to mutate into a more dangerous strain, leading to world flu pandemic and potentially killing millions of people.