A 30-year-old man from Vietnam's central highlands Lam Dong province has been confirmed to contract H5N1, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health announced on Monday.

The patient from the province's Di Linh district, where two other young men were previously tested positive to H5N1, was admitted to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City last Friday.

Nine local people were admitted to the city-based hospitals last weekend, raising the total number of flu type A infections and suspects hospitalized there to 74 by Sunday, including nine deaths. Meanwhile, eight hospitalized patients in the city were confirmed to be infected with H5N1.

By Sunday afternoon, Vietnam has reported 140 cases of flu type A infections and suspects, of whom 96 remained hospitalized.

To meet the growing demand for flu type A treatment, the country's Administration of Drug will approve applications of pharmaceutical companies for importing anti-viral Tamiflu within 12 hours. It has licensed three firms to import 220,000 tablets of Tamiflu, each of which is priced at 2.2 US dollars.

By Sunday afternoon, 57 cities and provinces nationwide, including 29 in the north and 28 in the south have been hit by the bird flu outbreak, which led to the killing or forced slaughtering of over 27 million poultry, or 10.6 percent of Vietnam's fowl population.

The Vietnamese government has set a target of containing the disease by the end of this month.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2004)