Cambodia on July 2 announced this year’s 9 th victim of the H5N1
strain of avian influenza and warned the deadly virus would still pose a
serious threat to Cambodian people.
According
to a joint statement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and
Cambodia’s Health Ministry, the victim was a six-year-old girl from the
country’s southwestern province of Kampot.
Admitted to hospital on June 28 showing symptoms of fever, cough and
breathing difficulties, she has her test confirmed to have contracted
the H5N1 virus. The girl was then treated with Tamiflu, but died on
July 1.
The H5N1 strain of avian influenza
remains a serious threat to all Cambodians, especially children. This is
the 13th case of H5N1 infection in humans this year, Health Minister
Mam Bunheng said in the statement.
Cambodia sees the worst outbreak of the virus this year since the disease was first identified in 2004.
To date, the country has recorded 34 human cases of the virus, of whom 28 were fatal.
Globally since 2003, the A/H5N1 virus took the lives of 376 people, according to WHO statistics.
Meanwhile, FAO warned that the virus remains lingering in Asia and the
Middle East and would be spread worldwide like it did in 2006.
The virus typically spreads from birds to humans through direct contact.-VNA