Bird flu kills Vietnamese woman - state radio

HANOI (Reuters) - Bird flu has killed a woman teacher in northern Vietnam, the fourth death from the H5N1 virus this year, state-run Voice of Vietnam radio reported on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old woman died on Monday at a Hanoi hospital after falling sick as she ate chicken in her home province of Phu Tho, the radio quoted the Health Ministry as saying.

In communist-run Vietnam, official announcements are often made in state-run media.

Tests performed at a Vietnamese laboratory confirmed the woman had the H5N1 virus, the report said. The death has not been confirmed by the World Health Organisation.

The woman's death is the fourth out of five people infected by bird flu so far this year in Vietnam after an extended cold spell in northern provinces. The virus is usually most active in colder weather.

A 7-year-old child from the northern province of Hai Duong who has been confirmed as infected by the H5N1 virus remained under treatment at a paediatric hospital in Hanoi, doctors said.

Excluding the death on Monday, bird flu has killed 232 people among the 366 known cases globally, among them 50 deaths in Vietnam, the WHO said.