Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Bird flu resurfaced with a vengeance in Vietnam

According to the London Free Press, five people fell ill in as many weeks - after no human cases had been reported for a year and a half - in Hanoi, Vietnam last month.

Health experts say the spike is a sobering reminder that the H5N1 virus remains deep-rooted and can kill at any time. The virus also has flared elsewhere, with people falling ill in China, Egypt and Indonesia this month alone. And poultry outbreaks have surfaced in Myanmar, Malaysia and as far afield as the Czech Republic. Vietnam, previously hailed as Asia's bright spot for beating back the virus, has seen an unexpected surge since last month, when it reported its first human case since November 2005. Two patients have died, two have recovered and one is critically ill.

Source: London Free Press, 23 June 2007.

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