A flock of 350 two-month-old ducks at a farm in Song Cong town’s Luong Chau ward, about 100km from Hanoi, died early this week and tests later confirmed they were infected with the deadly H5N1 virus.

Provincial veterinarians immediately slaughtered the entire unvaccinated flock and sterilized the breeding farm and its surrounding areas.

Medical experts have warned that the possibility of new outbreaks is high during the upcoming lunar New Year Festival (Tet).

The Ministry of Health has now 69 mobile teams in all 64 provinces and cities nationwide to prevent new outbreaks.

Meanwhile, a four-year-old boy from northern Son La province died of bird flu in Hanoi last month and the virus has killed birds in six communes of southern Tra Vinh province.