Cambodian health authorities urged people not to handle dead or sick animals and birds.


Phnom Penh: Cambodia has tested at least 12 people for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the health ministry said, after an 11-year-old girl died this week from the virus in the first known transmission to humans in the country in nearly a decade.
The victim's father, who was part of a group the girl had been in contact with in a province east of the capital Phnom Penh, tested positive for the virus but did not exhibit any symptoms, Health Minister Mam Bunheng said in a statement on Friday.
The statement did not disclose the test results of others in the group and did not specify how the victim's father had contracted the virus, commonly known as bird flu.
The girl's case was the first known human infection with the H5N1 strain in the Southeast Asian country since 2014, Bunheng had said on Thursday.
The girl from Prey Veng province was diagnosed with bird flu after falling sick with a high fever and cough on Feb. 16, the statement said.
When her condition deteriorated, she was transferred to the National Children's Hospital in Phnom Penh but died on Wednesday, the health ministry said.
Since early last year, bird flu has ravaged farms around the world, leading to the deaths of more than 200 million birds because of the disease or mass culls, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) recently told Reuters.
The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month noted the spread to mammals of H5N1 influenza, but said the risk to humans remained low.
H5N1 had spread among poultry and wild birds for 25 years, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing, but recent reports of infections in mink, otters and sealions "need to be monitored closely".
Cambodian health authorities urged people not to handle dead or sick animals and birds, and to contact a hotline if anyone suspected they had been infected by the disease.
SOURCE: REUTERS

FO rejects Indian claims on so-called 'Operation Sindoor’
- 4 hours ago
German mountaineer dies after attempting Laila Peak summit, confirm officials
- 2 hours ago

SBP keeps policy rate unchanged at 11pc
- 6 hours ago

Bushra Ansari reveals why her first marriage ended
- 6 hours ago

Nida Saleh becomes first female driver of Lahore's Orange Line Train
- 7 hours ago

ChatGPT can be a disaster for lawyers — Robin AI says it can fix that
- 7 hours ago

The Drifter is a good old-fashioned thriller
- 7 hours ago

Which teams take the next step in 2025? We have 11 candidates
- 4 hours ago
Attock tragedy: 2 dead, 3 missing as flood engulfs vehicle
- 6 hours ago
Govt approves Hajj Policy 2026
- 2 hours ago
TikTok introduces new features to enhance child safety and creator experience
- 4 hours ago

‘Respite’ as Sindh hikes minimum wage for workers
- 4 hours ago