Vietnam confirmed that the 23-year-old woman Ly Tai Mui from northern Quang Ninh province, who was confirmed of being infected with the H5N1 virus, has died, Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday.

    The patient had been taken to the local hospital with bird flu symptoms of high temperature and difficulty in breathing in late January after having sick fowls.

    The patient was then taken to the provincial hospital Quang Ninh of Vietnam because her health condition became worse with severe respiratory illnesses, her internal organs and liver were deteriorated, said provincial staffs of doctors from Quang Ninh hospital.

    Mui died after 18 days of being treated with advanced respiratory tube, said provincial doctors.

    So far this year, nine provinces of Vietnam nationwide have been hit by avian flu, including four provinces in Mekong Delta, namely Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Hau Giang and Bac Lieu, two northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Quang Ninh, two central provinces of Nghe An and Quang Tri, and the newly-confirmed southern Khanh Hoa, said the Department of Animal Health of Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

    Vietnam has reported three human cases of bird flu so far this year. They are an eight-year-old girl from northern Thanh Hoa province in early January, the newly-confirmed man Cu Van Chieu, and the first and newly-died 23-year-old woman Ly Tai Mui from northern Quang Ninh province.

    The eight-year-old girl has been recovered after being treated on time. The newly-confirmed man Cu Van Chieu is being treated at the National Institute for Infectious and Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, said officials from Vietnam´s Ministry of Health.

    In 2008, bird flu killed five people in Vietnam.