Vietnam's Health Department say that four members, all in a family in Nam Can district, have been hospitalized with symptoms of bird flu, in the country's first suspected cases of the disease in more than a year.
Huynh Trung Kien, acting manager of Ca Mau's health department said the four cases, all in a family in Nam Can district, were hospitalized with symptoms like coughs and high fever after they consumed chickens last week.
Vietnam's Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung Sunday asked southern provinces to take strong measures to prevent recurrences of bird flu, especially the vaccination of newly-hatched poultry.
Also Vietnam launched a national campaign to prevent bird flu Saturday as more poultry deaths were reported in the southern Mekong Delta. The month-long campaign aims to raise public awareness of bird flu, disinfect poultry farms, markets and slaughter houses, and vaccinate poultry flocks.
The latest outbreaks are the first in Vietnam since August.
The World Health Organization says bird flu pandemic has killed 157 people out of 261 infected globally since late 2003. Since 2003 H5N1 virus killed in Vietnam 42 people of the 93 people infected.
The bird flu virus currently affecting poultry and some people in Asia and other areas is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the virus.
Source: Tuoi Tre
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