HANOI, Jan. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnamese experts warned Friday that bird flu virus H5N1, which has been found in poultry and people in Vietnam, might transmit from persons to persons.

    "There have been people within a family contracting flu type A.Thus, person-to-person transmission is possible," said Tran Duc Long, deputy head of the Legislation Department under the Health Ministry.

    A school teacher in northern Thai Binh province and his two younger sisters died of flu type A. Vietnam's Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute said the two sisters were infected with H5N1.

    All of the victims could contract the virus from infected animals because they had close contacts to sick chickens, Long noted.

    Another group of victims were reported in the northern provinceof Ha Nam. Pham Thi Bay and her 12-year-old daughter Pham Thi Van died on Jan. 9 and Dec. 29, 2003, respectively.

    Le Dang Ha, director of the Hanoi-based Hospital of Tropical Diseases, said: "People around bird flu-hit areas must wear facialmasks to avoid contacting viruses. Although there has been no conclusion on the way of bird flu transmitting to humans, 100 percent of flu suffers have direct or indirect contacts to sick chickens."

    What worries the world is that H5N1 may join with a common flu virus in humans to form a new strain of deadly virus which spreadsas quickly as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), he noted.

    Shigeru Omi, director of the Western Pacific Region Office of the World Health Organization, said earlier in Hanoi that it is possible for H5N1 to jump from persons to persons.

    By Thursday, Vietnam has reported 65 flu type A patients and suspects, including 10 H5N1 infections in 15 cities and provinces.The country also saw the bird flu outbreak in 34 places. Enditem