BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) – A 5-year-old boy became Thailand’s second bird flu fatality in two months, while Vietnam announced two new outbreaks and China its fifth human case amid concern that infection rates could soar this winter.

Thai health authorities said Friday that lab tests showed the boy died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which international experts fear could trigger a human pandemic if it mutates into a form easily passed between people.

The boy fell ill with fever, stomach pains and vomiting on Nov. 25 at his home in a district of Nakhon Nayok province district about 45 miles northeast of the capital, Bangkok, Public Health Minister Phinij Jarusombat said. He was hospitalized nine days later and died Wednesday.

Health officials believe the boy had contact with the feces of chickens belonging to an uncle living next door. But his parents failed to give doctors a “clear history of his contact with chickens,” Phinij said in a statement.

Doctors had treated him as a normal pneumonia case until just hours before he died.

The cause of death was not yet confirmed by the World Health Organization.

The boy’s case was Thailand’s fourth reported bird flu infection since October. They were Thailand’s first new human cases of the virus in a year, coinciding with fresh outbreaks in poultry in several parts of the country.

The WHO has confirmed 69 bird flu deaths and 135 infections since late 2003, when the virus began sweeping Asia. Most have been traced to contact with infected birds. But experts fear H5N1 could change and become a virulent new form of flu that could traverse the globe, killing millions.

Forty-two of the deaths have been in Vietnam the country hit worst by bird flu. Vietnam’s Agriculture Ministry on Friday reported new outbreaks in two more provinces. The outbreaks killed or forced authorities to destroy some 10,600 chickens and ducks, it said.

Bird flu outbreaks have been reported in almost one-third of Vietnam since October, and more than 3 million birds have been destroyed nationwide.

Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat urged people not to avoid eating poultry because of bird flu fears, which he blamed for $44 million in monthly losses to the industry.

“We need to have specific actions to help poultry farmers sell their products and limit their losses,” Phat was quoted as saying in Friday’s state-owned Pioneer newspaper. “Eating chickens is a way to help farmers to overcome this difficult time.”

The WHO says poultry is safe to eat in areas affected by the virus so long as it is properly cooked and handled during preparation.

Meanwhile, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that a farmer in northeast China tested positive for the H5N1 virus but recovered after being hospitalized.

The 31-year-old woman, surnamed Liu, fell ill Oct. 30 in Heishan County in Liaoning province, making her the country’s fifth confirmed human case, Xinhua said. She suffered a fever and pneumonia-like symptoms but responded to treatment and was discharged Nov. 29, it said.

While China has mounted an aggressive campaign to fight bird flu, repeated outbreaks have been reported in poultry flocks, increasing the potential risk to humans.

Since Oct. 19, authorities have reported 25 bird flu outbreaks in poultry around China. Tens of millions of birds have been killed or vaccinated as a precaution.

Two farmers in the eastern province of Anhui died of the disease last month, while a 9-year-old boy in central Hunan province recovered. A 10-year-old girl in southern Guangxi province was also hospitalized and has undergone emergency treatment.

Bird flu’s global spread continued Friday, with officials confirming new cases in Ukraine, indicating attempts to eradicate an outbreak first detected a week ago have not worked. Officials fear migratory birds are carrying the virus from Asia to other parts of the world.