The Ministry of Health has directed localities to strengthen the monitoring of people entering Vietnam to ensure the early detection of suspected cases of A/H5N1 bird flu.

All suspected cases will be sampled for diagnostic testing.

This is part of measures to prevent the spread of the disease in Vietnam, according to the ministry.

Medical establishment have been instructed to prepare equipment and human resources for receiving and treating any patients.

Poultry and waterfowl farms, wholesale poultry markets, slaughterhouses, and border gates are set to be increasingly inspected.

A/H5N1 is a dangerous disease that starts in poultry and spreads to humans through contact. It has a rapid progression and there is currently no specific treatment and no vaccine for humans. The mortality rate among people infected is up to 70 per cent when it turns to pneumonia.

The ministry said neighboring Cambodia has confirmed two human cases of A/H5N1 in Prey Veng province, bordering Vietnam. One of the patients died. These are the latest cases recorded in Cambodia since 2014.