Vietnam´s National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute said the country´s latest human case of bird flu infection was a 11-year-old boy from northern Ha Nam province who died on March 14 after four days of treatment in Hanoi capital, Vietnam News Agency reported Monday.

    The institute´s tests showed that specimens from the boy named Do Van Huong from Thanh Liem district was infected with bird flu virus strain H5N1, the news agency quoted Nguyen Lap Quyet, director of the Ha Nam Health Department, as saying.

    The boy fell ill on March 5, and was admitted to the Ha Nam General Hospital in the province on March 8, and the National Hospital of Pediatrics in Hanoi on March 11.

    In late February, 10 out of a chicken flock raised by the boy´s family fell ill and died gradually. Then, the his family slaughtered some healthy chickens of the flock for meal.

    Relevant provincial agencies have disinfected and detoxificated the affected area, and selected samples from fowls in the area for bird flu testing.

    In June 2007, a 28-year-old woman named Phan Thi Xuyen from thedistrict died from bird flu.

    To date, Vietnam has reported a total of 106 human cases of bird flu infections, including 52 fatalities, in 35 cities and provinces since bird flu started to hit the country in December 2003. However, the World Health Organization has yet to confirm the latest case.

    Vietnam currently has 11 localities having poultry being hit by bird flu: Ninh Binh, Phu Tho, Ha Nam, Tuyen Quang, Hanoi and Lao Cai in the northern region, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Quang Nam inthe central region, and Soc Trang and Vinh Long in the southern one, according to the country’s Department of Animal Health.

    Bird flu outbreaks in Vietnam, starting in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country.