Bird flu kills teenager

A 17-year-old Vietnamese girl infected with bird flu has died, health officials said today, raising the region’s death toll to 48.

The teenager from northern Nam Dinh province was one of two new infections reported today.

Later, Nguyen Duc Hien, director of Bach Mai Hospital’s tropical disease unit, said the girl had died.

Since late December, 14 people have died from bird flu in Vietnam, while Cambodia has reported two deaths – including one this week – from the disease. A total of 48 people in the region have been killed by the deadly virus since it first emerged in December 2003.

In addition, a 40-year-old woman from northern Quang Ninh province also tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus and is in a Hanoi hospital.