HANOI, August 7 (RIA Novosti) - A 15-year-old boy who died August 3 in Vietnam was infected with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, the southeast Asian country's Health Ministry confirmed Tuesday.

The boy was hospitalized in the province of Thanh Hoa, south of Hanoi, on July 27 and died while being transported to a specialist clinic in the capital.

The Vietnamese Health Ministry said this was the 100th bird flu case and the 46th death from the virus in the country since 2003.

Bird flu epidemics continue in three of the country's provinces - Dien Bien, Quang Binh and Dong Thap.

Since late 2003, when the lethal H5N1 strain was first discovered in Asia, the virus has killed at least 191 people worldwide out of 317 known cases, according to the World Health Organization.