More bird flu cases confirmed
By Thoa Nguyen - The Saigon Times Daily
HANOI - The Ministry of Health on Monday confirmed that a 17-year-old girl living in the northern upland province of Tuyen Quang died last Friday after she had been diagnosed with bird flu. She is the third person to have contracted the virus, another whom died last week.
The girl, who lived in Tan Trao Commune in Don Duong District, began feeling ill on February 19. She was admitted to Son Duong Hospital where her fever and cough were treated with Tamiflu.
The Central Epidemiology Institute confirmed she tested positive for the H5N1 virus. A study conducted by the institute found that the patient had raised chickens at her home and several of the fowls had died of unknown causes recently.
The National Preventive Medicine and Environment Department reported that since the beginning of the year, Vietnam has had three fatal bird flu cases.