A family of Vietnamese poultry farmers has tested positive for bird flu.
Officials in Haiphong say a couple and their three daughters became ill after eating sick chickens. About half of the family's 400 chickens reportedly died of bird flu.
Initial tests show the five have the deadly H5N1 form of the disease. A neighbor of the family is also hospitalized with bird flu symptoms.
Forty-eight people in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia have died of bird flu since the end of 2003. Health experts fear that if the virus changes into a form that passes easily among humans, it could spark a global pandemic with millions of deaths.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
