BANGKOK, Thailand (AP): A 9-year-old girl in northern Thailand has tested positive for bird flu, becoming the latest human case of the deadly virus since it resurfaced in Southeast Asia in July, a health ministry official said Sunday.

Kanda Srilueng-On, who is in critical condition, is believed to have contracted the disease from infected birds, said Deputy Public Health Minister Anuthin Chanveerakul.

Kanda was hospitalised in Phetchabun province on Sept. 30 with flu-like symptoms, and test results on Sunday showed she has the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, Anuthin said.

The girl´s mother had raised chickens, some of which died of unknown causes. The surviving birds were slaughtered and Kanda had helped her mother clean and prepare them for eating, Anuthin said.

Her mother has not shown symptoms of the illness, but doctors have taken blood samples for testing. Other members of the family who also ate the chickens have not fallen sick.

Thailand went on high alert last week after it reported that an earlier bird flu victim died after probably contracting the virus from her daughter, in what is believed to be the country´s first case of human-to-human transmission.

The deceased woman´s 32-year-old sister is also being treated for the disease.

Ten people have died of bird flu in Thailand and 20 in Vietnam this year. More than 100 million chickens and poultry have died or been culled since the disease spread across large swathes of Asia early this year.

The health ministry was also conducting tests on a dog suspected of having contracted the virus. Earlier this year, cats were confirmed to have caught bird flu.

Dr. Kamnuan Ungchoosak, chief of the ministry´s communicable disease control department, said the dog, which lived near the house of a recent human victim of the disease in eastern Prachinburi province, was "not yet confirmed.创

"We do not know yet whether it has gotten the bird flu or not,创 he told The Associated Press.

Thailand launched a campaign to stamp out bird flu last week after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared war against the disease at an emergency meeting of 76 provincial governors.

Ministers were told to wipe out the disease before Oct. 31, when cooler weather sets in and people become more vulnerable to viruses, and migratory birds, thought to spread the disease, arrive.

But international health officials have said eradicating the virus within a short period is virtually impossible.

Phetchabun province is 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Bangkok.

Update 1:

The 9-year-old girl has died of bird flu in northern Thailand, raising the country´s death toll from the virus to 11, a Health Ministry official said Monday.

Kanda Srilueng-On died overnight at a hospital in Phetchabun province only hours after tests confirmed she had the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, said Dr. Kamnuan Ungchoosak, chief of the ministry´s communicable disease control department.