By RIA Novosti
Hanoi : A man has died in Vietnam of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu, the local Thanh Nien daily said on Thursday, citing the country’s health ministry.
The 40 year-old man, from the northern province of Hai Duong, 50 km (31 miles) southeast of Hanoi, died after six days of treatment for severe pneumonia and multiple organ failure. His death was the second known fatality to be attributed to avian influenza in 2008.
He is thought to have contracted the disease after eating two chickens that died of unknown causes in his neighborhood. His family members, who also ate the infected poultry, are currently being monitored by local health authorities.
Vientam ranks second after Indonesia in bird flu fatalities, with an overall death toll of 49 since the lethal H5N1 virus was first reported in the country in 2003. The two main sources of infection are the country’s northern Thai Nguyen and central Quang Binh provinces.
According to the World Health Organization, avian influenza has so far killed 226 people in 360 confirmed cases worldwide. Although there have been no incidences of human to human infection, experts fear that it may mutate into a form that could easily be transmitted from person to person, causing a global pandemic.