HANOI, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Over 1,000 ducks in Vietnam's central Quang Binh province and six fowls in northern Tuyen Quang province have died over the past few days, and their specimens have been tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1, local media reported Wednesday.

    Among a flock of 1,700 ducks raised by a household in Quang Binh's Le Thuy district, 1,030 died, and they were infected withH5N1 according to tests of a local veterinary center, Pioneer newspaper said.

    Two chickens and four white-winged ducks raised by a household in Tuyen Quang's Son Duong district died from bird flu infections, New Hanoi newspaper said.

    On Jan. 22, the Department of Animal Health under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed that the country currently has three localities being hit by bird flu, namely, southern Tra Vinh province and the two northern provinces of Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang. It has yet to confirm the bird flu outbreak in Quang Binh.

    Bird flu outbreaks in Vietnam, starting in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country.