Thai govt under fire

Two Thai workers collect chickens from a farm for destroying in Suphanburi province, northwest of Bangkok yesterday. Thailand's government was accused of endangering the health of farmers and the public with its slow response to the bird flu crisis after two human cases were confirmed in the kingdom. PHOTO: AFP

The death of a 13-year-old boy from the H5N1 virus in Ho Chi Minh City was confirmed Saturday, director of the Ho Chi Minh City health department Nguyen The Dung told AFP.

The unnamed teenager's death on Thursday marked the first from avian influenza in southern Vietnam, the five previous victims all from northern provinces. An eight-year-old girl from Ho Chi Minh City has also tested positive for H5N1 and is in a critical condition.

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Two sisters died Thursday from severe respiratory illnesses in Hanoi that were suspected bird flu cases, while 17 other suspected cases were being monitored at hospitals in the capital.

The Thai government, meanwhile, came under fire for its handling of the outbreak, which after weeks of denials it confirmed Friday had spread here with two confirmed human cases and the detection of the virus in chickens.

Thai medical authorities also announced Friday the first death of a person suspected to have contracted the disease.

"The livelihood and health safety of hundreds of thousands of farmers and workers in the poultry industry stands in jeopardy, due to the failure of timely and prompt identification and action against the outbreak," the Bangkok Post said in an editorial.