Bird flu winging it around Vietnam again...more humans affected

As Vietnam copes with its first confirmed human cases of bird flu since November 2005, more outbreaks of the deadly virus have been appearing in ducklings in Vietnam's northern region.

Following the deaths of ten ducklings and 80 others becoming sick on a farm in Thai Binh province at the end of May 2007, tests conducted by the Animal Health Department have confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus.

This latest outbreak means the virus has now spread to 14 provinces plus the Mekong delta city of Can Tho in a matter of weeks.

On the weekend Vietnam reported its second human case of the virus in less than a month, after a year and a half with no new human cases; both victims are reportedly being treated in hospital in Hanoi and are in a stable condition.

To date a total of 42 Vietnamese have died since the virus re-surfaced in Asia in late 2003; the latest human cases are in two men, from the northern provinces of Vinh Phuc and Thai Nguyen.

Both men had contact with poultry shortly before becoming ill; the first patient, from Vinh Phuc, helped slaughter chickens at a friend's wedding early last month and later developed high fever.

In the second case a worker in a poultry slaughterhouse outside Hanoi, became sick on May 26.

A Vietnamese health official says at least two other patients are suspected of having the disease; one patient is currently receiving treatment, and the other died Friday.

The man who died was admitted to hospital on Thursday with complications related to gout; following his death the next day precautionary X-rays revealed his lungs were badly infected; the results of his H5N1 test are not yet available.

According to the Vietnamese Animal Health Department 127.3 million poultry have been vaccinated against bird flu so far this year and 41 out of Vietnam's 64 provinces and cities have completed the first phase of a vaccination campaign.

Over 20 other provinces have started the second phase of the campaign which is targeting ducks, as experts believe the birds spread the H5N1 virus in their droppings as they wander from one rice field to another.

According to the World Health Organisation the virus has to date infected more than 300 people in 12 countries, the death on Tuesday of a 15-year-old Indonesian girl takes the fatalities up to 188 and Indonesia remains the country worse hit by the virus.

International health authorities have in the past held Vietnam up as a good example of how to deal effectively with bird flu because of the success of its aggressive efforts to control the disease in animals and to test and treat human cases.

Almost all human cases to date have involved people being in close contact with infected fowl but the worry is that the virus will ultimately mutate and develop the ability to transfer from human to human.

This could in turn trigger a pandemic affecting millions of people across the globe.