HONG KONG, Feb. 5 Kyodo

Four Hong Kong medical experts will visit Vietnam on Sunday to provide assistance in treating human cases of avian influenza, the government said Thursday.

The team was originally due to leave Thursday but delayed their departure to skip the weekend holidays in Hanoi and allow the experts to have more time in rendering clinical assistance, a Health Department spokeswoman said.

The experts' six-day visit is being organized at the request of the health authorities in Vietnam, where the current outbreak of bird flu has killed at least 10 people.

During their stay in the Vietnamese capital, the Hong Kong experts will provide support in setting up clinical protocols for the triage of hospital patients and for management of patients with flu-like illness or community-acquired pneumonia, the government said earlier.

The team will also help Vietnamese doctors develop specific hospital treatment protocols for suspected and confirmed bird flu patients, and offer training in infection control measures.

Following its several fights against bird flu outbreaks over the past seven years, including the first human infections in 1997, Hong Kong is known for its experience in handling health crises.

The former British colony was also stricken last year by an epidemic of the highly contagious SARS, which killed nearly 300 people.

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