WHO confirms bird flu infection in Vietnamese boy
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-02-18 14:28

The World Health Organization confirmed Vietnamese health ministry reports that a 15-year-old boy had been infected with bird flu.

Laboratory tests confirmed the boy, from northern Thanh Hoa province, was infected with the species-jumping H5N1 virus, the WHO said in a posting on its Web site on Tuesday. It said the boy, who is being treated in the provincial hospital, was admitted on February 9.

At least 14 people have died from bird flu in Vietnam and six in Thailand. The disease has caused the death of millions of poultry across the region.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has called for the epidemic to be brought under control within this month.

Authorities have expressed optimism that the goal can be met, with Agriculture Minister Le Huy Ngo saying in Wednesday's Vietnam News daily that outbreaks among poultry had stalled in six provinces for the past 10 days.

Two provinces had reported no new poultry infections, while three others were in their seventh day of no new cases, he said. The disease had spread to 57 of Vietnam's 64 provinces and major cities.

But the United Nations food agency's director of animal health said on Tuesday it might be impossible to eradicate the virus.

Samuel Jutzi, director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) animal health department, said in an interview in Rome about 80 million birds had been culled or died from the disease and that experts were still not sure of the source of the epidemic.

"We still hope that the countries in the region can get on top of the disease but we are less certain as to whether the virus can be pushed back or eradicated," Jutzi said.

UN health and animal bodies have warned affected countries repeatedly not to be in a hurry to declare their epidemics over because the virus was hard to stamp out.

Reinforcing this view, Japan confirmed a new outbreak of bird flu on Tuesday, thwarting its plans to declare an end to the scourge there, while China confirmed two more outbreaks among poultry in a central province.

The cases came a day after hard-hit Thailand's hopes of declaring victory in its war against the disease were dashed after it reported fresh outbreaks in nine provinces.