Bird flu claims two more victims
Laboratory tests have confirmed that bird flu claimed the lives of two more people, bringing Vietnam’s death toll to eight, officials said today.
The latest cases were two sisters from northern Thai Binh province, who died last week, said Hoang Thuy Long, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemology. Thai Binh is 100 kilometres (60 miles) south-east of Hanoi.
“Test results on Tuesday showed that they were positive with H5N1 strain of bird flu,” he said.
The two women, aged 23 and 30, were admitted to the Institute of Clinical Research for Tropical Medicine on January 13 and died January 22.
Their 31-year-old brother had died on January 14 at Bach Mai Hospital, but he was cremated so no samples were available for testing, said Long.
The World Health Organisation has already confirmed eight human cases of bird flu in Vietnam.
Six of those people – five of them children – have died. An 8-year-old girl remains hospitalised in Ho Chi Minh City while a 4-year-old boy from Vinh Phuc has recovered and been discharged.
WHO officials said today they have not been notified of the latest cases.
Two bird flu deaths have been confirmed in Thailand, for a total of 10 for the region.
