Bird flu 2009

I was just doing a general google for information on Vietnam when I discovered there is a current bird flu problem there. Apparently two people have died and it has been found in 11 provinces.

We are booked to take our child there this fpr the Easter school holidays next month.

This has thrown me for a loop.....

Bird flu 2009

Does any body know any more about this?

Is no one else concerned by this?

Bird flu 2009

Vietnam records second bird flu fatality this year:

A 32-year-old man in Vietnam has died of bird flu, becoming the second fatality from the virus in the country so far this year, a medical official said.

';The patient, 32, died on February 25,'; head of the intensive care unit at Hanoi%26#39;s tropical diseases institute, Nguyen Van Thai, said.

He had tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus earlier this month, said a female doctor at the hospital who did not want to be named.

She said he fell sick on February 3 and was moved to the hospital two days later with a high fever and respiratory problems.

Vietnam has the world%26#39;s second highest bird flu death toll after Indonesia, with 54 deaths.

They include the latest case and a 23-year-old woman who died earlier this month.

According to the latest animal health department report, 11 of 63 provinces across Vietnam have been hit with the H5N1 strain.

The H5N1 virus typically spreads from birds to humans via direct contact, but experts fear that it could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, with the potential to kill millions in a pandemic.

Bird flu has also been reported on a central Japanese quail farm today, but no animals have died and no humans have been infected, an agriculture ministry official said.

The birds were infected with the H7 strain of the virus, he said.

';The outbreak occurred at a quail farm in Aichi prefecture, but no birds have died and no humans have been infected,'; the official said.

In April and May last year several dead swans tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Hokkaido, northern Japan.

Do not worry so much, because of our warning at noted tourist services,

Thanks for your attentions.

Einstein

Let%26#39;s hope there isn%26#39;t a repeat of the irresponsible reporting of SARS %26amp; bird flu that did so much damage to Vietnam in 2003-4!

To catch bird flu you would basically have to have intimate relations with an infected bird, or kill it and eat it raw. As such activities don%26#39;t generally feature on tourist itineraries, you will be absolutely fine :)

Uh, just how ';intimate'; do you have to get with these birds?

Is that word a euphemism?

Just asking.

One way is to suck the blood out of the infected bird%26#39;s nostrils in its beak during a cock fight. That%26#39;s pretty intimate (and revolting :-P )

There will be cock fight if it is a hen.

How do you get ';intimate'; then?