Avian Flu Detected in Cambodia

A child from Cambodia has died from a rare incidence of H5N1 avian flu.

Health officials in Cambodia have reported that an 11-year-old girl died from the first human case of avian flu in the nation in nine years. On Wednesday, the girl from the remote Prey Veng province was confirmed to have the H5N1 virus. A week ago, she became very unwell with a high temperature, cough, and sore throat.

The youngster had been brought all the way from her community to the children's hospital in Phnom Penh, but she passed away not long after her diagnosis. Authorities have taken tissue samples from many deceased birds found near the girl's home. Residents have also been cautioned by health experts to avoid contact with any ill or dead birds.

The Cambodian Ministry of Health said that 11 people, including her father, had tested positive for the virus.

The latest case of avian influenza in Cambodia was reported in 2014. They found 56 human instances of H5N1 infection in the previous decade, with 37 deaths overall.

Cases of human infection with the avian flu virus are very unusual because people lack the receptors in their upper respiratory tracts that allow the virus to infect them. Workers who handle diseased birds are at a greater risk of contracting the disease. Infectious human cases of H5N1 have been reported to the World Health Organization from eight different countries since 2021. These countries include China, India, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Worldwide, birds are being infected by a new, extremely infectious form of the virus.

Since October of 2021, when the first cases of the new bird flu pandemic were reported, the virus has spread over the world.

Earlier this month, the International Organisation for Animal Health reported that it has documented around 42 million individual cases in both domestic and wild birds. Over 15 million chicken and other domestic animals have perished from the illness, and over 193 million have been slaughtered.

Mammals including minks and otters have also been affected by this strain. According to the World Health Organization, the virus "has to be examined attentively" to see whether it is evolving into a form that may transmit among people.

 

Source: bbc.com