Officials in Vietnam have announced that a 16-year-old girl has tested positive for avian influenza. She has the lethal H5N1 virus which has killed at least 20 people in Vietnam since late 2003.
"Tests revealed on Friday that she had contracted the H5N1 virus. She is suffering from an acute respiratory failure and is now in a critical condition," Truong Trong Hoang, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City health department told the press.
Seven southern provinces in Vietnam have announced outbreaks of the disease since early December 2004. Local officials say that 14,000 birds have been culled and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has ordered a ban on the transportation of sick birds.
