Cambodian girl dies of bird flu, 13 female, Kampong Cham province, April 2007

[Sally Furniss]

Cambodian girl dies of bird flu

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/06/content_5942525.htm

PHNOM PENH, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A 13-year-old Cambodian girl has died of bird flu in Kampong Cham province, ministry source told Xinhua on Friday.

This is the seventh victim of the epidemic in the country, said Sok Touch, Secretary of State of Cambodian Ministry of Health.

The girl died at noon on April 5 and her blood samples were tested positive for the disease, according to a joint statement issued by the ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO).

It is not known yet weather the girl contracted the disease from animals or human beings.

[Theresa42]

Re: Cambodian girl dies of bird flu

Hat-tip, Kelly Phan!

Girl dies of bird flu in Cambodia
April 6, 2007

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - A 13-year-old girl has died of bird flu in Cambodia, the country's seventh fatality from the H5N1 virus, the health ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Friday.

"She died midday on April 5. Samples from the girl tested positive for the influenza A/H5N1 virus at the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia in Phnom Penh," they said in a joint statement.

The girl, who was from eastern Kampong Cham province on the border with Vietnam, fell ill with a fever and diarrhoea on Monday and was brought to a local hospital the next day, they said.

The girl was sent to a hospital in the capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday after her condition worsened, the statement said.

It was the first human case of bird flu in Cambodia so far this year, the statement said.

"The Ministry of Agriculture is conducting a detailed investigation into poultry in the area around the village, but it appears that some chickens had been dying in the village before the girl become ill," it said.

A team of investigators from the health ministry, the WHO and the Pasteur Institute have gone to the area to determine whether there were any more cases, the statement added.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070406/thl-health-flu-cambodia-5effa79.html

[Theresa42]

Re: Cambodian girl dies of bird flu

Hat-tip, Kelly Phan (again!)!

Cambodian teen dies of H5N1 strain of bird flu
06 Apr 2007

Phnom Penh - A 13-year-old Cambodian girl has been confirmed as the country's seventh victim of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, country's the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a joint press release Friday. The teen, from Kampong Cham province some 200 kilometres east of the capital Phnom Penh, died Thursday after falling ill Monday, the statement said.

Subsequent tests at the Pasteur Institute had confirmed she had contracted the bird flu virus.

She died in a Phnom Penh hospital after having being transfered from her remote home village when initial symptoms of fever, diarrhea and shortness of breath worsened.

The statement said chickens had died in her village prior to the girl, whose name was given by the provincial hospital as Nha Pany, falling ill.

Investigations were now underway to determine if she had been in contact with dead or sick fowls or eaten contaminated meat.

A WHO epidemiologist, who requested anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone current investigations would also try to find out whether any other people in the area displayed symptoms.

Bird flu has killed at least 170 people in Asia since 2003, hitting Indonesia the worst, but also causing high human death tolls in Vietnam and Thailand.

Cambodia has been less hard hit in comparison, but thousands of birds were culled as a precautions and a large amount of money has been spent to educate local people about the dangers of the virus and how it is spread.

Most of the previous victims in Cambodia were from the southwestern provinces bordering Vietnam and enjoying brisk cross-border trade in foodstuffs, including live animals known to carry the disease such as pigs, ducks and chickens.

The teenager's death is the first confirmed death from the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Cambodia since April 2006.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/48576.html

[HenryN]

Re: Cambodian girl dies of bird flu

Local Media Reports Bird Flu May Not Yet Be Contained In Cambodia<!-- T -->

Two siblings of Cambodia's seventh human bird-flu fatality victim who had initially reported symptoms were improving, but the sudden deaths of chickens in a neighbouring province raised new concerns, local media reported Sunday.

Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper quoted local health officials as saying two children aged 8 and 11, believed to be siblings of a 13-year-old girl who died of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, had earlier been feared to contracted the disease but now appeared to be improving.

The dead school girl, named by local hospital staff as Cheat Nha Phany, had tended her family's small flock of chickens in the Ponhea Kret district of eastern Kampong Cham province, according to local residents.

Rasmei quoted local officials as saying that several were under observation in the area surrounding Phany's home, and that 68 ducks and nearly 300 chickens had died in the vicinity before and after the girl fell ill last Monday.

Health Ministry official Ly Sovann told Radio Free Asia that authorities were investigating reports of mass deaths of chickens in neighbouring Kratie Province.

Phany was the first confirmed human death from the disease since April 2006.

? 2007 DPA

http://www.playfuls.com/news_006311_..._Cambodia.html<!-- TXT -->

[HenryN]

Re: Cambodian girl dies of bird flu

Avian influenza ? situation in Cambodia
10 April 2007
The Ministry of Health in Cambodia has confirmed the country?s seventh case of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. It is the first case to be confirmed in humans in Cambodia in 2007.
The 13-year-old girl, from Ponhea Kreak district in Kampong Cham province, developed symptoms on 2 April and was hospitalized the following day. She died on 5 April. Samples taken from the girl have tested positive for H5N1 at the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh.
Initial investigations into the source of the girl's infection indicate the presence of sick and dead poultry in the village in recent weeks and that she had consumed a sick chicken prior to onset of symptoms. A team from the Ministry of Health, WHO, and the Pasteur Institute are following up with close contacts of the girl and are conducting awareness raising activities in the area.
Of the 7 cases confirmed to date in Cambodia, all have been fatal.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2007_04_10a/en/index.html