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After a year and a half of great success controlling the bird flu virus, Vietnam began seeing new human cases last June. In 2007, they recorded 8 cases and 5 fatalities.
In January of this year, they saw their first human fatality of 2008.
Bird flu kills a man in northern Vietnam
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Bird flu has killed a man in northern Vietnam, taking the country's death toll from the virus to 49, and health officials warned Thursday that the virus could spread further.
The 40-year-old man from Hai Duong province died Wednesday, six days after being admitted to the national tropical disease hospital in the capital, Hanoi, said Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Ministry of Health's Preventive Medicine Department.
The man's test results came back positive Sunday for the dangerous H5N1 virus strain. He was the 49th person to die of the virus in Vietnam since bird flu began raging across Asia in late 2003. H5N1 killed a 32-year-old man in northern Tuyen Quang province in January.
Nga said the latest victim developed flu symptoms on Feb. 2 and was admitted to the Hanoi hospital Feb. 10.
"The danger of the bird flu virus spreading further remains very high," Nga said "We have repeatedly urged people to report sick poultry to animal health authorities and to refrain from eating sick birds."
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