A lethal strain of bacteria known as VRE has been found during inspections of imported chicken,health officials said Wednesday. Chicken tainted with vancomycin resistant enterococcus, or VRE, normally does not cause problems in healthy people, but it could be fatal to the elderly and those with serious illnesses whose immune systems have been weakened, experts said. VRE causes blood poisoning in patients who succumb to the bacteria. The Ministry of Health and Welfare inspected 120 samples of imported chicken from the United States, Europe and Asian countries. VRE was detected in six of 20 samples from France and two other unidentified countries.