More people falling ill in Vietnam as bird flu claims new victim

The UN health agency said more people had been referred to two hospitals in Hanoi, raising fears that if they test positive for the virus it could wreak havoc on Vietnam's predominantly rural population.

The outbreak has sparked an Asia-wide health scare but Bob Dietz, the WHO's spokesman in Vietnam, cautioned that there was still no evidence of human-to-human transmission despite the deaths of several members of the same family.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

"We believe we are seeing more cases of respiratory illness," he said. "It is too early to say whether or not this indicates an increase in H5N1 cases.

"It may be because more people with respiratory illnesses are being sent to these hospitals from the areas surrounding Hanoi because of concern surrounding H5N1 infections reported to the public."

A five-year-old child in the Vietnamese province of Nam Dinh who died on January 8 became the fourth confirmed death from the H5N1 strain of the virus.

The WHO says all four victims caught the virus directly from a bird and not through human transmission. Vietnamese experts have blamed bird flu on the deaths of nine others.

No confirmed or suspected deaths have been reported in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, who are all coping with their own bird flu outbreaks.

Taiwanese authorities Saturday ordered 35,000 more chickens to be slaughtered after the less virulent H5N2 strain of the virus was found at a second farm in one week. Some 20,000 birds were culled Friday.

Vietnam has ordered the slaughter of all chickens in the 12 worst affected regions grappling with the epidemic and has banned the sale of poultry in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's largest metropolis.

Authorities have culled 39 tonnes of poultry since December 27 in Ho Chi Minh City alone, according to state media. A WHO expert is due to travel to the southern business capital over the weekend on a week-long mission.

Ten more experts from the UN health agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are due to arrive in the Southeast Asian nation this week to help containment efforts.

Meanwhile, the state-run VN Express news portal reported that there had been bird flu outbreaks at a poultry research centre in Hanoi and on a farm in the northern province of Vinh Phuc in July last year.

This comes amid unconfirmed reports that the Vietnamese authorities had deliberately covered up the outbreaks.