Hanoi - A man suffering from bird flu died Friday morning, the second death in two days and the third since the beginning of the year, a Vietnamese official said. The 27-year-old man had been admitted to a hospital in Ninh Binh province, 120 kilometers south of Hanoi, on Monday, and transferred to Hanoi the following day, according to Dinh Quoc Su, head of Ninh Binh's Animal Health Department.
The Ministry of Health announced late Thursday that the man had tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus.
Su said Doan and his family had eaten chicken bought at a local market during Tet, the Vietnamese lunar New Year's festival, which began on February 7.
He said local authorities had disinfected Doan's neighborhood and were trying to find out exactly where he had bought the chicken.
"Neither Doan's wife nor his 4-year-old son have shown any bird flu-like symptoms, but doctors are monitoring them," Su said.
Bird flu killed a 41-year-old man from northern Hai Duong province on Wednesday and a 32-year-old man from northern Tuyen Quang province in January. The latest death has raised the overall toll from H5N1 in Vietnam to 50 since bird flu first appeared in the country in 2003.
"The risk that bird flu will spread among poultry, and also to humans, is very high now," Nguyen Huy Nga, head of Vietnam's Preventive Medicine Department, said Thursday. "The weather is cold and a large number of poultry have been transported and slaughtered since Tet."
Nga said authorities have warned the population not to eat sick or dead poultry, and to see a doctor immediately in case of cough or fever.
H5N1 mainly affects poultry and wild birds, but can infect humans who have close contact with sick fowl. Scientists fear that if it spreads unchecked, the disease could mutate into a form which could be transmitted between humans, leading to a worldwide pandemic that could kill millions.
