Vietnam reports new bird flu case as melee erupts over smuggled chickens in Hanoi

Ducklings are seen at an incubating farm outside Hanoi. Hanoi has banned the use of motorcycles and bicycles to transport live poultry as part of efforts to protect the city from a bird flu outbreak. (REUTERS)

Published Sunday, February 08, 2009

By AP

Officials say Vietnam has reported a new human case of the bird flu as a melee in Hanoi illustrated the challenges that health authorities confront as they try to prevent the spread of the virus. The melee erupted Thursday.

According to officials at a hospital in the northern province of Quang Ninh, a 23-year-old woman from northern Vietnam has tested positive for the H5N1 virus, the second human case reported in the country this year. She has been hooked to a respirator since being admitted five days ago, said hospital deputy director Nguyen Quoc Hung.

Authorities, meanwhile, said that more than 100 villagers in a district just outside Hanoi prevented authorities from destroying the chickens that had been smuggled in from China.

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