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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 15, 2004

Same virus causes flu in poultry, humans: Vietnam health official

Two kinds of flu, which are striking both poultry and humans in Vietnam, are caused by the same virus H5N1, Trinh Quan Huan, director of the country's Preventive Medicine Department, was quoted by local newspaper Young People on Wednesday.


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Two kinds of flu, which are striking both poultry and humans in Vietnam, are caused by the same virus H5N1, Trinh Quan Huan, director of the country's Preventive Medicine Department, was quoted by local newspaper Young People on Wednesday.

Initial testing of Vietnam's Health Ministry showed that there is a link between the two kinds of flu which are caused by avian influenza type A and sub-type H5N1, the virus caused the bird flu epidemic in Hong Kong in 1997, he said.

If no effective measures are taken, flu can spread very fast among people. However, virus H5N1 cannot directly transmit from chicken to humans, but via mammals like pig, he noted.

By Tuesday night, a total of 15 local people were hospitalized due to flu type A infections, 12 of them, including 11 children, died of the disease.

To deal with the two kinds of flu, the ministry has instructed health-care agencies in cities and provinces nationwide, especially bird flu-stricken localities to proactively take preventive measures.

Local relevant agencies are now continuing to destroy infected poultry, detoxificate poultry farms, and ban the transport of chickens in affected areas to others.

Besides, local people are advised to keep their body and livingenvironment hygienic by such activities as gargling with salt water and using nose-drops frequently. Regarding flu suffers, theyare placed in quarantine and under intensive care.

The bird flu has recently spreaded to several provinces both inthe southern and northern regions, infecting nearly 1.5 million poultry.


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