Second nurse with bird flu

A 46-year-old female nurse apparently contracted the H5N1 virus (bird flu) , after taking care of a 26-year-old victim of the disease. She is the second nurse in less than a week to have contracted the disease, and both come from Thai Binh province in northern Vietnam. Vietnam officials claim the disease is subsiding, but World Health Organization officials and other health experts fear a major pandemic will occur, killing millions of people, if the disease mutates to become spread from humans to humans. Since January this year, more than 1.5 million poulty have been culled in 35 cities and provinces of Vienam. (Xinhua March 12)

Update: The nurse subsequently tested negative for the bird flu virus. She had been admitted last Thursday to Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital with typical bird flu symptoms - a high fever, coughing and a lung infection. (Associated Press March 15).