Bird flu kills teenager in Vietnam, toddler in Cambodia

Jan 19, 2012, 10:53 GMT

Hanoi - An 18-year-old in Vietnam's Mekong Delta has died of bird flu, authorities said Thursday, and a 2-year-old boy was also confirmed to have died of the disease in Cambodia.

'This is the first patient to die of bird flu this year,' said Phi Van Kien, an official from Vietnam's Department of Preventive Health and Environment.

The teenager, who worked at a duck farm in Hau Giang province, was admitted to hospital with respiratory problems on January 10, but he died the same day.

On Tuesday, a blood sample sent to the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City tested positive for H5N1, said Le Van San, a doctor at the institute.

In Cambodia, Dr Ly Sovann, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's communicable diseases department, said late Wednesday that a 2-year-old boy had died on Wednesday as a result of bird flu.

The boy is believed to have been exposed to sick poultry in his village in Banteay Meanchey province, north-western Cambodia. He developed symptoms on January 3 and was admitted to hospital six days later, where he was ventilated and treated with Tamiflu.

In 2010, seven people were reported infected with H5N1 in Vietnam, two of whom died.

There have been 119 confirmed human H5N1 infections in Vietnam since the virus first appeared in the country in late 2003, including 59 deaths.

According to Cambodia's Ministry of Health, the country has had 19 confirmed cases of bird flu to date, 17 of which have been fatal. The boy's death is the first in 2012.