A man with bird flu has died in northern Vietnam, after nearly six months of having no case recorded in the country, the health ministry said Monday.

He was admitted to the provincial Dien Bien General Hospital on November 26 and died of pneumonia two days later.

A test conducted by the Hanoi-based National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on Sunday showed that he was inflicted with the H5N1 virus.

Dien Bien Province had reported bird flu outbreaks at Noong Luong and Thanh Yen communes on October 21, but no human being had been infected thus far.

According to the Ministry of Health, five people with bird flu have died so far this year, bringing the country’s death toll to 57.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Animal Health Department in June said Vietnam has successfully curbed the spread of the bird flu as well as two other livestock diseases: foot-and-mouth and blue ear pig.

Reported by Lien Chau