A Vietnamese medical official said on Wednesday that bird flu has reappeared in Vietnam, bringing high risk of humans becoming infected with the disease, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The new cases were reported in poultry in southern Ca Mau province and central Nghe An province. No new cases of humans contraction have been detected so far, said Nguyen Huy Nga, Head of the Department for Preventive Medicine and Environment at a meeting in Hanoi on Wednesday.

"But due to the conducive weather conditions and the unpredictable development of the epidemic in poultry, there is a high risk of human case," warned the medical official.

So far this year, Vietnam has reported five human avian influenza fatalities. The most recent case of human infection was in March.

The Vietnamese Health Ministry is working with relevant government organizations and institutes nationwide to monitor the development of the disease, particularly in the affected localities and those with a history of epidemic outbreaks, said the report.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2008)