No human-to-human bird flu transmission, confirms WHO
HA NOI — The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that no cases of human-to-human transmission of the avian influenza type A (H5N1) virus have so far been identified.
Trinh Quan Huan, director of the Health Ministry’s Health Preventive and HIV/AIDS Combat Department, affirmed yesterday that there has been no evidence so far that the virus has mutated. He stressed that all people infected with H5N1 in Viet Nam have had contact with infected birds.
Meanwhile, no new bird flu outbreaks have been detected in 22 out of 35 bird-flu affected provinces and cities for three weeks across the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s veterinary department. Four of the provinces are located in Mekong (Cuu Long) Delta region, the hardest hit region in the country in the number of bird flu cases.
Long An Province in the region, the most seriously affected locality, has detected no new infections in the past two weeks.
However, one new infection spot was detected in Hung My Commune in the Chau Thanh District of Tra Vinh Province. A total of 1,670 poultry were culled in this area. — VNS (12-03-2005)
