(Adds Agriculture Minister's comments, global figures) HANOI, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Vietnam has detected the lethal H5N1 bird flu virus in chickens and ducklings in two Mekong Delta provinces, the country's first infections since August, the Agriculture Ministry said. The virus was found in more than 6,000 dead chickens and ducklings hatched more than a month ago but not vaccinated against bird flu, the ministry's Animal Health Department said in the report seen on Wednesday. Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat has criticised officials in the delta provinces of Ca Mau and Bac Lieu for failing to deal with the outbreaks. Dead poultry were found in water channels early this month but the officials failed to report it to Hanoi. The Animal Health Department said all the poultry found dead had been hatched illegally and tests had confirmed the presence of the H5N1 virus. "The risk of bird flu widely spreading in the Mekong Delta is extremely high because farmers have thrown dead poultry into water channels for a long time," it said. In January 2005, bird flu killed a Vietnamese boy in the Mekong Delta after he swam in a channel where people had dumped infected poultry. Temperatures were falling in the southern region incorporating the delta, which would also help the spread of a virus that thrives best in cooler temperatures. Vietnam has been free of human bird flu cases since late 2005. In August, it found the H5N1 virus on a small duck farm in the delta province of Ben Tre. An H5 subtype avian flu virus resurfaced in Vietnam earlier this year, mainly in ducks and wild storks. Bird flu first arrived in the delta in late 2003 and has since killed 42 of the 93 people infected in the country, a human death toll second only to Indonesia's 57, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The global health body says bird flu has killed 154 people out of 258 infected globally since late 2003. Experts fear the virus could muTate into a form that is easily transmissible among humans and spark an influenza pandemic that would kill millions. On Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Phat urged provincial authorities to raise breeders' awareness to help detect any infection early, carry out protective measures and avoid the disposal or sale of dead poultry when an outbreak was found. Health officials fear complacency given the absence of bird flu infections in recent months, particularly as Vietnam enters the holiday season which extends to the Lunar New Year festival in February when poultry consumption often peaks.
