WHO - Avian influenza A(H5N1) - update 16

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 04 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam has today officially confirmed three additional cases, including one fatality, of avian influenza H5N1 infection in humans.

Two of the newly reported cases, a 19-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, have been under treatment at a hospital in Hanoi.

The 19-year-old man has recovered and the 20-year-old woman remains hospitalized.

The third case, which was fatal, was in an 18-year-old man who died on 2 February at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. He is the country's first confirmed case from the Central Highlands area.

These newly reported cases bring the number of laboratory confirmed H5N1 cases in Viet Nam to 13. Of these, nine have died, two remain hospitalized, and two have recovered.

Authorities in Viet Nam have reported that 52 of the country's 64 provinces have now detected outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in poultry.