A 21-year-old student in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam has succumbed to avian influenza A(H5N1) infection after contracting the virus about a couple weeks ago, a local official confirmed on Saturday.

The victim, identified as B.T.D., was pronounced dead at around 8:00 am on Saturday morning at the Khanh Hoa Hospital for Tropical Diseases, where he received intensive treatment, said Ton That Toan, deputy director of the provincial Center for Disease Control.

Before being transferred to this hospital, he had fallen into a coma and was placed on a breathing machine, adding that he experienced severe pneumonia due to the H5N1 virus.

Local health authorities are still working to identify the transmission source of his infection, Toan said.

The deceased patient was studying at Nha Trang University and staying in the school’s dormitory in the namesake city.

He developed symptoms such as a fever and mild coughs after returning home in Ninh Hoa Town on March 11.

He took over-the-counter medications and sought medical attention in his hometown, but the symptoms did not abate.

His family rushed him to the Khanh Hoa General Hospital for intensive treatment as his health worsened on March 17.

Two days later, the general hospital sent his samples to the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang, with the latter confirming that he was infected with the avian influenza A(H5N1).

Since his health continued deteriorating, he was transferred to the Khanh Hoa Hospital for Tropical Diseases for quarantine and treatment.

Prior to his death, a team of healthcare workers came to his home where they discovered that his family used to raise wild birds in captivity.

The team was unable to collect samples of the wild birds as the animals had been released into the wild before the student fell ill, Toan elaborated, adding wild birds could be a transmission source of the avian influenza.

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