A three-year-old boy from Vietnam´s southern Tien Giang province has been contracted with bird flu, local newspaper Youth reported Monday.

    Initial test showed that the boy from Cai Lay district has been infected with the disease, the paper said, adding he is now in need of respiratory assistance.

    The boy was admitted to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 26, after having fever, cough and respiratory illness.

    Vietnam´s Health Ministry on Sunday announced that the country has detected 66 human cases of H5N1 infections, including 22 fatalities, in 25 cities and provinces since December 2004, bringing the total infection cases and death tolls since December 2003 to 93 and 42 respectively.

    To deal with bird flu, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, at a meeting with localities and ministries last weekend, proposed relevant agencies to consider the possibility of culling the country´s all flocks of poultry.

    A total of 22 localities nationwide have detected poultry deaths since Oct. 1. Recent tests have showed that fowls in southern Dong Thap province have not been infected with bird flu virus, according to the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Meanwhile, capital Hanoi and southern Bac Lieu province have met criteria for announcing an end to bird flu outbreaks (detecting no new affectedspot for at least three weeks).

    Therefore, the current number of bird flu-hit localities, is only 19, the department said.