Vietnamese family tests negative to bird flu
Hanoi (dpa) - A Vietnamese family hospitalized with suspected avian influenza last week has tested negative for the H5N1 virus, suspending fears of a return of human deaths from bird flu after a year's respite, an official said Tuesday.
Do Thi Hoa, 37, and her three sons turned out to be suffering from pneumonia, according to Dr Huyen Nhan Tai of the local medical centre in Ca Mau province.
"Their condition is improving and they will be released from the hospital in the next day or so," Dr Tai said.
Vietnam has been on alert since bird flu returned to the country's domestic poultry flocks in three southern provinces - including Ca Mau, 250 kilometres south of Ho Chi Minh City - after a year's absence.
However, the country has not had a confirmed human case of bird flu in more than a year after launching an aggressive vaccination campaign in poultry.
Vietnam once had the most human deaths from the H5N1 virus - which affects mostly poultry but can be passed to humans through close contact with sick birds - with 42 people dead since 2003.
Worldwide, bird flu has killed 158 people and millions of domestic poultry.
Though the number of human deaths is low and the virus remains relative difficult for humans to catch, scientists have warned that the H5N1 virus has the potential to adapt to humans and emerge as a new pandemic influenza virus that could kill millions of people who would have no immunity. // © 2006 DPA
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