Laboratory tests have confirmed the deaths of three people in Vietnam are linked to an outbreak of contagious bird flu, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.
It said in a statement the test results confirmed two children and one adult in Hanoi had H5N1 avian influenza, also known as bird flu.
They were among 14 people who contracted what WHO called a severe respiratory disease in Hanoi and surrounding provinces, of whom 12 have died.
However, there was no evidence so far that all these cases were caused by bird flu, the WHO said.