People try to take back chicken of dubious origin meant for culling from a truck in Hanoi’s Thuong Tin District on Thursday

A 23-year-old woman is suspected of contracting the H5N1 strain of bird flu after suffering severe respiratory problems in northern Quang Ninh Province Saturday, health officials said.

But doctors reported they were unable to conclude if Mui had been infected with the H5N1 virus. One test showed she carried it, but another was negative.

Health experts were dispatched Saturday to Quang Ninh to carry out further examinations. Work to disinfect Dam Ha District also began Saturday.

Quang Ninh, where the world renowned Ha Long Bay is located, is about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Hanoi.

Before Mui, an eight-year-old girl in the northern province of Thanh Hoa who fell sick after eating duck and chicken raised on her family’s farm was diagnosed with the bird flu. She has since recovered, but her 13- year-old sister died in the hospital earlier without being tested for the virus before her burial, health officials said.

The Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau reported Saturday the bird flu has spread among four local communes, prompting the culling of 3,250 birds to contain the epidemic.

The Ca Mau government also asked agencies concerned to take further measures against the spread of the disease in the province.

The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang began disinfection work Saturday after 700 birds were recently reported to have died of the flu.

The avian flu has thus far infected poultry in four provinces in the country – Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta region and Nghe An in the north.

The H5N1 remains largely confined to birds, but experts fear it could mutate into a form that is easily transmitted by humans and spark a pandemic that could kill millions worldwide.

Since 2003, Vietnam has recorded 52 human deaths from bird flu, the second highest toll after Indonesia, where the virus has killed 115 people.

Chicken thieves

The deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Hanoi Saturday called for strict action against residents who stole around 1,000 chickens meant for destruction three days ago in Hanoi’s Thuong Tin District.

On Thursday, the Hanoi Veterinary Bureau was collecting some 1,500 chickens of unknown origin for culling when many locals flocked to the scene to take the birds back, said bureau chief Nguyen Xuan Vui.

They dug up holes to retrieve buried chickens or jumped into the trucks to get the fowl back, Vui said.

Vui also said he had warned the people it would be very risky to eat the birds, but the warning had fallen on deaf ears.

Source: TN, Agencies