An 11-year-old Cambodian girl who contracted bird flu has died
The case represents the nation’s first confirmed human H5N1 infection since 2014, according to the health minister.
According to the statement, the girl from Prey Veng province in eastern Cambodia was identified as having avian flu after developing a high fever and cough on February 16.
This weekend CDC posted information about two human #H5N1 (bird flu) virus infections reported in Cambodia. CDC is supporting the Cambodian Ministry of Health as they investigate and respond to the situation. Learn more here: https://t.co/4KwisUFV7x pic.twitter.com/Wb8UHo3Cz2
— CDC Flu (@CDCFlu) February 27, 2023
She was taken to the national children’s hospital in Phnom Penh after her condition worsened for treatment, but she passed away on Wednesday, according to the health ministry.
Notwithstanding the fact that the next fatal pandemic is not inevitable, all the conditions are present.
The International Organisation for Animal Health recently reported that since early last year, bird flu has devastated farms all over the world, killing more than 200 million birds either directly from the illness or as a result of mass culls.
The H5N1 influenza has expanded to mammals, according to the World Health Organization, but the risk to people is still minimal.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, stated during a briefing that H5N1 had been spreading among domestic and wild birds for 25 years, but that recent reports of infections in mink, otters, and sealions “ought to be followed cautiously”.
When H5N1 first appeared in 1996, there has only been sporadic and non-sustained transmission of the strain to and between humans, according to WHO, who now rates the danger to humans as low. Health inspectors took samples from a dead bird near the girl’s home in a conservation area.
Those who have previously contracted bird flu typically worked on poultry farms or had direct contact with diseased animals.
Health officials in Cambodia advised residents of the country in south-east Asia not to handle sick or dead animals or birds and to call a hotline if they thought they may have become ill.
