DHAKA - A 16-MONTH-OLD boy has been confirmed as Bangladesh's first human case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, a senior health ministry official said on Thursday.

'We got the confirmation yesterday from the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) yesterday,' said Mahmudur Rahman, a senior health ministry official.

The boy from a slum in the capital Dhaka 'has survived. He has been quarantined and his condition has improved,' Mr Rahman said.

'Although there is no farm in the neighbourhood we suspect that he got the illness after his family bought chickens from a farm,' he said. -- AFP