HO CHI MINH CITY, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Forty-four cases of food poisoning occurred in Vietnam in the first half of this year, affecting 1,207 people, of whom seven died, its Preventive Health Department said Friday.

In June alone, 16 food poisoning cases were reported in the country, affecting 284 local people, including one fatality.

In the first six months of last year, Vietnam faced 59 cases of food poisoning which affected 1,346 people, of whom 17 died.

In the first six months of this year, the country spotted 22,800 dengue fever patients, including five deaths, nearly 168,000 foot-and-mouth disease cases, 333 viral encephalitis sufferers, including five fatalities, and 35 human rabies deaths.

Vietnam currently has 208,800 HIV carriers, of whom 91,600 have become AIDS patients, the department said. To date, some 97,500 people in the country have died of AIDS-related diseases.