10 Die of Bird Flu in Vietnam This Month

HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnam reported another bird flu death Friday, bringing the human toll from the virus that spreads mostly from chickens and ducks to humans to 10 so far this month, officials said.

A 32-year-old man from northern Phu Tho province died Thursday after he was admitted five days ago at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi with fever, coughing and breathing difficulties, hospital officials said.

The man’s family raised poultry, but none of them have shown signs of illness, said Nguyen Dinh Trong, director of Phu Tho provincial Preventive Medicine Center, where the man was first admitted on Jan. 12.

Trong said no bird flu outbreaks have been reported in poultry in the man’s home village. The man was involved in the trade of poultry from infected areas six months ago, but had stopped before he was infected, Trong said.

The death is the 10th in Vietnam since Dec. 30, and brings the death toll from bird flu in Vietnam to 30 in the past year.

Officials are bracing for more cases as the Lunar New Year celebrations approach next month, the busiest time of the year for the transport of people and poultry. Amid a larger outbreak last year, Vietnam banned the sale and transport of poultry during the holiday. No bans have been put in place this year.

The World Health Organization has warned that if the virus alters to spread easily from person-to-person, it could spark a global pandemic. However, most human infections have been traced back to contact with sick poultry, and there is no evidence the virus has mutated.