Myanmar is closely monitoring a new outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus among chickens in a village near the Myanmar-Thai border.

State-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Saturday that there have been numerous deaths of domestic chicken in a village in eastern Shan State's Mongphyat township, some 31 miles from the border

A four-year-old boy became the latest casualty of bird flu in Vietnam, bringing to five the number of people to have died from the avian virus this year in the region, health ministry officials in Vietnam confirmed Thursday.

Tran Hung, Vietnam's health ministry administrative office director said, "He tested positive to the H5N1 virus late last week. It is the first human case of H5N1 in about four months in Vietnam

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that Indonesia has so far recorded the world's most number of human deaths from bird flu, with the death toll placed at 94. Of the total number, almost all cases originated from sick poultry.

The latest fatality was a woman from Cengkarang in western part of Jakarta, who died Tuesday after being admitted in the hospital for six days. She was tested positive of H5N1 strain, according to the country's Ministry of Health

A ranking official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said there was a possibility of limited human-to-human bird flu transmission involving a five-member family in Pakistan.

At least two of the five brothers who were tested positive for the bird flu virus last month have died, leaving the organization to conclude that the disease may spread from one human to another

China claimed a medical breakthrough on Monday through the successful development of a human-use bird flu vaccine. It was developed by Sinovac Biotech and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sinovac has developed the world's first SARS vaccine, according to Xinhua Net