A 68-year-old man from Vietnam's central Quang Tri province died on Sunday afternoon after exhibiting bird flu symptoms, a local health official told Xinhua Tuesday.

"The Nguyen Van Minh from Dong Ha town was admitted to the Hue Central Hospital on Nov. 5, and died from respiratory failure on Nov. 6. We have sent his specimens to the National Institute of Hygiene and for bird flu virus testing," said Pham Nhu The, director of the hospital in central Hue city.

Local doctors are getting to know why the patient's health condition became worse quickly, and whether there are any connections between his death and poultry, he noted.

Vietnam's Health Ministry on Monday confirmed that a 35-year-old man from Hanoi capital, who died on Oct. 29, was infected with bird flu, raising the total number of fatalities to 42.

The man ate chicken brought at a local market on Oct. 17, and then was admitted a local hospital on Oct. 26 after exhibiting bird flu symptoms. Nine other people in his family also ate the chicken, but developed no symptoms.

So far 92 Vietnamese people have been infected with bird flu since the disease started to break out in the country in late 2003.Of them, 42 died, the ministry said.

According to the National Anti-Bird flu Steering Committee, bird flu, since early last month, broke out in nine communes of six cities and provinces, namely Bac Lieu, Dong Thap, Quang Nam, Bac Giang, Thanh Hoa and Hanoi, killing and leading to the forced culling of nearly 20,700 fowls.

Vietnam is facing a high risk of large bird flu outbreaks, especially in the southern Mekong Delta and the northern Red Riverdelta, since weather conditions are favorable for the development of bird flu viruses, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Previous outbreaks starting in December 2003 killed and led to the forced culling of some 46.6 million fowls in Vietnam, causing losses of 3.5 trillion Vietnamese dong (221.5 million US dollars),according to the agriculture ministry. Enditem