Vietnamese boy, 5, latest bird flu victim

A five-year-old boy from central Vietnam has become the latest person to contract the bird flu virus that has killed 46 people in the region, health officials said today.

The boy from Quang Binh province tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus, said Nguyen Tran Hien, director of the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology.