A four-year-old boy has died of bird flu in Vietnam, becoming the country's fifth reported victim of the virus this year, health officials said.
The deadly H5N1 virus was found in samples taken from the child. He died after being admitted to hospital with high fever, state media reported.
The child is believed to have eaten chicken before falling sick in the northern province of Son La.
Bird flu has killed 47 people in Vietnam since 2003.
Vietnam's last reported death from the virus was in August when a teenager was killed.
In another development the Vietnamese government said the virus had returned to the Mekong delta in the south, killing hundreds of ducks and chickens.
The H5N1 strain has killed more than 190 people since 2003, according to WHO figures. Indonesia has been hardest hit, with 80 deaths.
Scientists fear the virus could mutate to a form which could be easily passed from human to human, triggering a pandemic.
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