Vietnam's first bird flu patient since November 2005, a 30-year-old man from northern Vinh Phuc province, has been discharged from hospital, according to local newspaper Saigon Liberation on Tuesday.

The man named Phung Minh Phuc was released from the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi on Monday after 26 days of treatment. He exhibited bird flu symptoms on May 10 after having slaughtered chickens for a wedding party

Now, a local man from northern Thai Nguyen province, the country's second bird flu patient since November 2005, is under treatment at the city-based Tropical Disease Hospital. He worked at a poultry slaughterhouse in Hanoi on May 14 and developed bird flu symptoms five days later.

To date, Vietnam has reported a total of 95 human cases of bird flu infections, including 42 fatalities. However, the World Health Organization has yet to confirm the two latest cases of infections in the country's northern region.

Vietnam's Health Ministry has asked preventive medicine centers, Pasteur institutes and hygiene and epidemiology institutes nationwide to establish hotlines to receive bird flu information from the community. The ministry is also coordinating with the World Health Organization to probe into the possibility of H5N1 mutation.

Since early May, bird flu has hit poultry in 16 Vietnamese cities and provinces nationwide, namely Nghe An, Nam Dinh, Son La, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, Dong Thap, Can Tho, Ninh Binh, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Ha Nam, Quang Nam, Hung Yen, Thai Binh and Phu Tho, according to the country's Department of Animal Health.

Source: Xinhua