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 in a report.

The H5N1 virus was found in more than 6,000 dead chickens and ducklings hatched more than a month ago but which had not been vaccinated against bird flu, the ministry's Animal Health Department said in the report seen on Wednesday.

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 Mekong delta province of Ben Tre, which is in the south of the country.

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