A Vietnamese veterinarian has just been hospitalized for being suspected of contracting the bird flu virus strain H5N1, according to local newspaper Pioneer on Thursday.

    The patient, a woman from Vietnam´s northern Thai Binh province,was admitted to the Institute of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi city on March 9. She has frequently contacted with poultry, including infected fowls.

    In the most recent outbreak of bird flu starting in late December 2004, Vietnam has detected 24 local people to contract H5N1, of whom 13 have died. The country does not recognize the recent retesting by a lab in Japan, which indicated that specimensfrom seven Vietnamese people were tested positive to the virus, not negative as testing by Vietnam´s Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute in January.

    The same specimens were tested negative to H5N1, the institute said, adding that all of the seven people are still alive.

    To prevent new outbreaks of bird flu, Vietnam will vaccinate duck flocks in its southern Mekong Delta in April, the country´s Institute for Veterinary Research said, noting that they will use bird flu vaccines imported from China and the Netherlands.

    Bird flu, which has killed and led to the forced culling of more than 1.5 million fowls in 35 cities and provinces in Vietnam since January, is subsiding. By Wednesday, 20 out of the 35 localities have detected no new bird flu-affected spots for at least three weeks.