Vietnam has confirmed its first human case of vietnam rare bird flu case in 2025, involving an eight-year-old girl from Tay Ninh province who presented with symptoms of encephalitis—a rare manifestation of the virus. According to a statement from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the child’s condition marked a significant deviation from the virus’s typical respiratory impact, highlighting a potential shift in disease behavior.
The girl’s symptoms began on April 11 with fever, headache, and repeated vomiting. After a brief and ineffective stay at the provincial hospital, she was transferred to Children’s Hospital 1 on April 13 in a semi-conscious state. There, she was diagnosed with encephalitis, a serious brain inflammation often linked to viral infections. Laboratory tests conducted at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases later confirmed she was infected with influenza A/H5, despite a negative result from respiratory tract polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for H5 virus.
The patient is currently in a stable condition, isolated, and on ventilator support. According to health officials, the girl had contact with chickens that had died in large numbers at her grandmother’s residence two weeks prior—pointing to a likely source of transmission.
A Vietnam Rare Bird Flu Medical Case
Medical experts have described the girl’s case as a rare instance in which Vietnam rare bird flu has affected the central nervous system rather than the respiratory tract. The health department also noted the child has a pre-existing medical condition—congenital heart disease (ventricular septal defect)—for which she underwent surgery at two months old. This case is only the second recorded in Vietnam where H5N1 has led to neurological complications.
A similar incident occurred in 2004, when two siblings contracted Vietnam rare bird flu. One of them suffered severe neurological symptoms without any respiratory signs and died within weeks. This earlier case had also raised concerns about the virus’s potential to manifest beyond the respiratory system, expanding the clinical profile of H5N1 in humans.
Health authorities and disease researchers are continuing to investigate the genetic makeup of the virus strain responsible for the current infection. While the specific clade has yet to be identified, global experts suggest that clade 2.3.4.4b remains the most prevalent variant and has been infecting birds, mammals, and humans since 2022.
Public Health Context and Global Monitoring
The Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) and other health agencies are closely monitoring the case, especially in light of previous warnings about a reassortant H5N1 strain circulating in the Greater Mekong region. This variant reportedly carries surface proteins from an older clade (2.3.2.1c), which has been found in both birds and humans.
Despite the severity of this latest case, the World Health Organization continues to classify the human risk level of avian influenza as low, due to the absence of confirmed human-to-human transmission. However, the virus’s high mortality rate—over 50% in known human cases—underscores the importance of vigilance, rapid response, and continued surveillance, particularly in regions with high exposure to poultry and migratory birds.
The case serves as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of zoonotic diseases and the ongoing need for global cooperation in monitoring and controlling potential outbreaks.
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