Vietnam on Friday reported another human death from bird flu, bringing the toll to 10 people over the past month as officials scramble to control the latest outbreak of the virus that scientists fear could give rise to the next pandemic.

Doctors also said two additional people were sickened with the virus, bringing to 15 the number of people stricken with the avian flu in the current wave of infections.

The latest victim was a 32-year-old man from northern Phu Tho province who died Thursday after spending five days in Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, a doctor there said on condition of anonymity.

The man had developed a high fever, coughing and breathing difficulties on Jan. 12, said Nguyen Dinh Trong, director of Phu Tho provincial Preventive Medicine Center.

Doctors were still trying to determine how he caught the disease, which is usually traced to direct contact with sick birds.

The World Health Organization has warned that if the virus alters and becomes easily spread from person-to-person, it could spark a global pandemic. However, there is no evidence that the virus has undergone such a mutation yet.

The man´s family raised poultry, but none of them have shown signs of illness, Trong said, adding that there were no bird flu outbreaks reported among poultry in his village.

Trong, however, said the man was involved in the trade of poultry from infected areas six months ago, but has stopped since then.

Meanwhile, two other men, ages 66 and 30, from Hanoi and Hung Yen province respectively, tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu and remained in stable condition Friday, said the doctor at Bach Mai Hospital.

On Thursday, officials said two girls, ages 10 and 13, tested positive for the virus in southern Vietnam and remained in critical condition Friday. The older girl´s mother died from the disease Jan. 21 after the two of them slaughtered a duck.

Since Dec. 30, at least 10 people have died of bird flu in Vietnam.

The virus emerged last year, spreading rapidly through poultry farms of Asia, killing or forcing the cull of millions of birds in 10 countries, and jumping to humans in Vietnam and Thailand.

Over the past year, bird flu has killed 30 people in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand.

Vietnam is struggling to contain its latest outbreak of bird flu ahead of next month´s Lunar New Year celebrations, when thousands of people are on the move. Chicken is traditionally served during new year feasts.

Last year Vietnam banned the sale and transport of poultry during the holiday.

No bans have been put in place this year, but animal health officials have advised people to wear masks and gloves when slaughtering poultry and to avoid handling birds if they have any type of open wounds on their skin.

Bird Flu Infects Five More People in Vietnam-Reuters

Bird flu has infected five more people in Vietnam, two of whom are under treatment in Ho Chi Minh City where riot police are manning checkpoints for poultry vehicles and authorities have issued warnings to travel agents.

A researcher at the city´s Pasteur Institute told Reuters on Friday tests had confirmed the poultry virus had infected two girls, a 10-year-old from Long An province and a 13-year-old from Dong Thap province.

"We tested the 13-year-old girl three times and found the H5 component in her samples," said the laboratory researcher, referring to the killer H5N1 poultry virus strain.

Her mother died on Jan. 21, also from the H5N1 virus, doctors said.

Tests on three men, aged between 30 and 66 who are now being treated at a Hanoi hospital, also confirmed they were infected with the poultry virus, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said, citing lab tests.

The five new cases bring Vietnam´s total number of human infections to 16 in the latest wave of the virus which first surfaced in the southeast Asian nation in December 2003.

Of these cases, nine have died in recent weeks. Including the 12 people who died of bird flu in Thailand last year, Asia´s total death toll now stands at 41.

Officials in Ho Chi Minh City, a sprawling metropolis of 10 million people, said riot police would now be joining market inspectors at poultry van checkpoints set up around the city to stop the virus spreading.

The city´s tourism department has also asked tour agents to stop taking visitors to areas where the risk of poultry virus infection is high, the Saigon Giai Phong daily said.

Most of the victims are believed to have caught the virus from infected poultry but doctors fear it could mutate into one that is easily passed between people, unleashing a global human flu pandemic that could kill millions.