News - Bird flu may have killed Vietnamese Man

Bird flu may have killed a 36-year-old man in the south of Vietnam, where the deadly virus remains in 10 of the country's 64 provinces, doctors said on Friday.

The man, who was a teacher in Soc Trang province, died on Wednesday of severe lung infection just five hours after being admitted to the Bac Lieu General Hospital in the nearby province of Bac Lieu, doctors at the hospital told Reuters.

They said samples had been sent to the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City for laboratory bird flu testing. Results are expected by late next week.

The teacher's family raised fighting cocks but all of the birds were healthy, the doctors said. Soc Trang has had no recent bird flu outbreaks.

The H5N1 virus has killed 73 people in Asia including 42 in Vietnam, the country worst affected, since it swept through late 2003.

Global Coverage Article Reuters.co.uk