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Vietnamese woman dies from bird flu: doctor
April 25, 2009
A couple rides on a motorcycle transporting live chickens on a road from the Vietnam-China border to the city of Lang Son, 150 kms north of Hanoi, capital of the northern province of Lang Son in February 2009. A Vietnamese woman has died from bird flu, a doctor said Friday, making her the country's fourth human victim of the disease this year.
A Vietnamese woman has died from bird flu, a doctor said Friday, making her the country's fourth human victim of the disease this year.
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A 23-year-old woman living in Thanh Hoa province died from the disease on Thursday, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, deputy director of the northern province's health service, told AFP.
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Communist Vietnam has the world's second-highest bird flu death toll after Indonesia, with 56 deaths.
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The victim, Pham Thi Hao, became ill on April 15 and was admitted to the provincial hospital last Tuesday with serious lung and heart infections which required her to be placed on a respirator, Thanh said.
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Samples taken two days before her death were tested in Hanoi and showed on Thursday that she was positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus, the doctor added.
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"In Thien Phu commune where she lived the local veterinary officials found that chickens had died from an unknown cause," Thanh said.
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Earlier Friday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that no provinces were affected by bird flu.
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Last month a three-year-old, Tran Cong Phuc, died in southern Vietnam from the deadly H5N1 strain. A doctor said he had eaten soup cooked from chickens which had died unexpectedly.
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Two other Vietnamese people to have died of the disease this year had both slaughtered and eaten sick poultry before their deaths, Vietnam News Agency reported earlier, citing the Health Ministry's Preventive Medicine and Environment Department.
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The H5N1 virus typically spreads from birds to humans via direct contact, but experts fear it could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, with the potential to kill millions in a pandemic.
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in February that Vietnam had to monitor the bird flu situation closely to prevent more deaths.
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According to the WHO, H5N1 has killed more than 250 people across the world since 2003.
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Vietnam's agriculture ministry has said the risks associated with avian flu are "significant," and that the public "generally does nothing to protect itself" against the threat.
.
The country managed to contain the H5N1 virus in 2006, but in 2007 recorded new cases of human infection and fatalities. Last year there were five deaths from the virus, all in the first three months. ? AFP
A Vietnamese woman has died from bird flu, a doctor said Friday, making her the country's fourth human victim of the disease this year.
.
A 23-year-old woman living in Thanh Hoa province died from the disease on Thursday, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, deputy director of the northern province's health service, told AFP.
.
Communist Vietnam has the world's second-highest bird flu death toll after Indonesia, with 56 deaths.
.
The victim, Pham Thi Hao, became ill on April 15 and was admitted to the provincial hospital last Tuesday with serious lung and heart infections which required her to be placed on a respirator, Thanh said.
.
Samples taken two days before her death were tested in Hanoi and showed on Thursday that she was positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus, the doctor added.
.
"In Thien Phu commune where she lived the local veterinary officials found that chickens had died from an unknown cause," Thanh said.
.
Earlier Friday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that no provinces were affected by bird flu.
.
Last month a three-year-old, Tran Cong Phuc, died in southern Vietnam from the deadly H5N1 strain. A doctor said he had eaten soup cooked from chickens which had died unexpectedly.
.
Two other Vietnamese people to have died of the disease this year had both slaughtered and eaten sick poultry before their deaths, Vietnam News Agency reported earlier, citing the Health Ministry's Preventive Medicine and Environment Department.
.
The H5N1 virus typically spreads from birds to humans via direct contact, but experts fear it could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, with the potential to kill millions in a pandemic.
.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in February that Vietnam had to monitor the bird flu situation closely to prevent more deaths.
.
According to the WHO, H5N1 has killed more than 250 people across the world since 2003.
.
Vietnam's agriculture ministry has said the risks associated with avian flu are "significant," and that the public "generally does nothing to protect itself" against the threat.
.
The country managed to contain the H5N1 virus in 2006, but in 2007 recorded new cases of human infection and fatalities. Last year there were five deaths from the virus, all in the first three months. ? AFP
A Vietnamese woman has died from bird flu, a doctor said Friday, making her the country's fourth human victim of the disease this year.
.
A 23-year-old woman living in Thanh Hoa province died from the disease on Thursday, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, deputy director of the northern province's health service, told AFP.
.
Communist Vietnam has the world's second-highest bird flu death toll after Indonesia, with 56 deaths.
.
The victim, Pham Thi Hao, became ill on April 15 and was admitted to the provincial hospital last Tuesday with serious lung and heart infections which required her to be placed on a respirator, Thanh said.
.
Samples taken two days before her death were tested in Hanoi and showed on Thursday that she was positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus, the doctor added.
.
"In Thien Phu commune where she lived the local veterinary officials found that chickens had died from an unknown cause," Thanh said.
.
Earlier Friday, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that no provinces were affected by bird flu.
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