PHNOM PENH - Cambodian health officials are reporting a seventh case of bird flu for this year, with the death of a three-year-old girl from Kampot province.
The Ministry of Health has sent an investigative team to the girl’s home village, in Angkor Chhey district, but officials say there is no evidence of human-to-human spread of the disease.
Avian influenza, caused by the H5N1 virus, is passed from infected birds to humans, but authorities have long feared that the virus could mutate to pass from person to person, making it much more dangerous.
Sok Touch, head of the Health Ministry’s communicable disease department, said the girl likely handled infected fowl and that there was evidence of recent poultry deaths in the area. She was confirmed positive for the bird flu virus on Feb. 11 and later died at the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh.
The risk of bird flu is higher this year compared to the same period last year, Sok Touch said.
The Ministry of Health has sent an investigative team to the girl’s home village, in Angkor Chhey district, but officials say there is no evidence of human-to-human spread of the disease.
Avian influenza, caused by the H5N1 virus, is passed from infected birds to humans, but authorities have long feared that the virus could mutate to pass from person to person, making it much more dangerous.
Sok Touch, head of the Health Ministry’s communicable disease department, said the girl likely handled infected fowl and that there was evidence of recent poultry deaths in the area. She was confirmed positive for the bird flu virus on Feb. 11 and later died at the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh.
The risk of bird flu is higher this year compared to the same period last year, Sok Touch said.
