Vietnam reports 12th death from bird flu
Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) A 10-year-old girl has died from bird flu in southern Vietnam, becoming the country's 12th victim of the disease in the past month, a doctor said on Monday.
The girl from Long An province, heavily hit by bird flu both last year and this year, was admitted to the hospital on January 20 and died on Sunday, a doctor at Ho Chi Minh City's Pediatrics Hospital No.1 said.
The virus has claimed 12 lives in Vietnam since December 30 and 32 since the end of 2003. Another two patients are in stable condition in Hanoi after testing positive.
Twelve people have also died in Thailand from the virus that has swept Asia since December 2003.
Bird flu has now spread to 31 of Vietnam's 64 cities and provinces. More than one million poultry have been culled since the start of the year in a bid to stem the spread of the disease.
Early on Saturday, a 13-year-old girl also died from bird flu a week after her mother, aged 35.
State media said the mother and child lived in an area where several chickens had died from the virus.
Vietnamese and foreign scientists are carefully watching for any change in the virus.
A report by Thai and US researchers published last week suggested that human to human transmission of the virus had likely occurred and experts are on the look out for the virus mutating which they warn could lead to a global epidemic.
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