The boy from Son La province tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus after falling ill with flu-like symptoms, said Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Health Ministry's Preventative Medicine Unit. The boy died on Dec. 16 in Hanoi, five days after becoming sick.

Son La, located 300 kilometers (187 miles) northwest of Hanoi, has not experienced any recent bird flu outbreaks among poultry.

Also Wednesday, a 25-year-old Egyptian woman has died of bird flu, Egypt's Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

It is the first human death in Egypt from the virus since June and the 16th since the disease arrived in early 2006.

The ministry named the woman as Ola Younis from Beni Haroun village in Beni Suef province, south of Cairo.

She entered Beni Suef hospital on Dec. 21 with a high temperature and breathing problems, was diagnosed on Tuesday and died the same day, it said in a statement.