21-year-old student dies of H5N1 bird flu in Vietnam

A student in Vietnam has died of H5N1 bird flu, according to the country's Department of Preventive Medicine.

The 21-year-old man developed symptoms of fever and a cough on March 11. A week later, he presented at Ninh Hoa Medical Center in Vietnam's eastern Khanh Hoa province, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and transferred to Khanh Hoa General Hospital.

The student tested positive for highly pathogenic avian iNFLuenza on March 20, and further tests conducted two days later at the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute showed the patient was infected with the H5N1 subtype. 

This strain of bird flu is known to cause deadly outbreaks in wild and domesticated birds and to occasionally infect people. 

"Due to the serious progression of the disease, the patient died on March 23," representatives of the Department of Health of Tay Ninh Province wrote in a translated statement.

An investigation revealed the student, who was enrolled at Nha Trang University, had gone wild bird trapping before and after the Lunar New Year on Feb. 10. However, no sick or dead birds have been reported in the area where he went trapping, close to Ninh Hoa town.

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