HANOI - Vietnam has diagnosed the first outbreak of avian H1N1 flu on humans in 2015, said Vietnam's Ministry of Health's General Department of Preventive Medicine (GDPM) in the capital Hanoi on Monday.

On March 14 to 21, a total of 33 victims, who mostly are students at a primary school in Central Highlands Lam Dong province, some 1,050 km south of Hanoi, were reported with symptoms of fever, coughing, and running nose, stated the GDPM.

Samples of these victims have been tested to give positive results with avian H1N1 flu, which caused an epidemic in Vietnam in 2009, Vietnam's state-run television VTV quoted a report by the GDPM as saying on Monday.

The 33 above-mentioned cases are temporarily dismissed from school for isolation and medical treatment.

The GDPM representative advised local authorities to cooperate with the healthcare sector for early detection of new H1N1 flu case, so that they will be isolated, diagnosed and treated promptly.