Vietnam's death toll by H5N1 bird flu rises to 2 in 2014

The second death caused by H5N1 bird flu in Vietnam in 2014 has been reported in southern Dong Thap province, bringing the H5N1 bird flu death toll to two. Vietnam local Lao Dong (Labor) online newspaper quoted the country's Ministry of Health (MoH) on Thursday as saying that the victim, a woman at her 60, started the disease on Jan. 22 with symptoms of fever. She was hospitalized on Jan. 27 due to symptoms of serious shortness of breath and died a day later. The test results showed that the victim was positive with H5N1 virus. Earlier on Jan. 20, 2014, the first death caused by H5N1 bird flu was announced in Vietnam's southern Binh Phuoc province after nine months without any H5N1 bird flu cases reported on human. Since the first case detected in 2003, Vietnam has reported 126 cases with H5N1 virus, causing 63 deaths, according to the MoH. Bird flu, or avian influenza, is a contagious disease of animal origin caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. It can be fatal to humans.