ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Six people caught the deadly strain of bird flu in northern Pakistan last month and at least one person with the disease has died, the government said Saturday.

The World Health Organization confirmed that all six cases were positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus in preliminary testing, but said a second round of analysis was being conducted to make sure.

If confirmed, the infections would be the first in humans in South Asia.

Pakistan"e;s Health Ministry said it had tested several patients and others with whom they had come into contact in late October. The results for six people from the Abbottabad and Mansehra districts of North West Frontier Province were positive, it said in a statement.

The ministry said five people had fully recovered, one died in a hospital and his brother, who could not be tested, also died. It did not explain why the brother could not be tested.

The virus has killed more than 200 people worldwide since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003, according to the WHO.

Most of the human cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported in Indonesia and Vietnam. On Friday, the WHO confirmed the first case in Myanmar, where a 7-year-old girl was infected but recovered.