29 June 2007

The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam has confirmed two new human cases of influenza A(H5N1) virus infection, the first human cases to have been reported from Viet Nam since November 2005. Both cases have been confirmed by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and by the WHO H5 Reference Laboratory, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The first case is a 29 year old male from Vinh Phuc Province. He developed symptoms on 10 May some days after slaughtering poultry for a wedding. He was admitted to hospital on 15 May and was discharged on 11 June.

The second human is a 19 year old male from Thai Nguyen Province. He developed symptoms on 20 May following exposure to poultry at a slaughter house. He was admitted to hospital on 25 May and remains in hospital in a stable condition.

To date, there has been no evidence of an epidemiological link between the human cases, and no evidence of infection in close contacts of the cases.

These human cases have coincided with a large number of new poultry outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza reported in Viet Nam during May and June this year.