Cambodia isolates another suspected human bird flu case

Cambodian health officials said on Friday they had isolated a teenaged boy in hospital and have confirmed they suspect he may have contracted bird flu, just days after a man from the same village died of an H5 type virus.
Ministry of Agriculture secretary of state, Yim Voeunthan, said by telephone that Hon Sopheap, 18, had been hospitalised for further testing after he complained of symptoms which may be consistent with bird flu, or avian influenza, and it was revealed he has been in close contact with poultry.
The teen is from Keatha Vong Leu in the southern province of Kampot, the same village as Keo Saran, 27, who died in hospital on Tuesday and was confirmed to have tested positive for an H5 virus on Wednesday.
Keatha Vong Leu lies close to the Vietnamese border and is just 20 kilometres from the home of the woman who became Cambodia’s first confirmed human death from bird flu when she died in a Vietnamese hospital in February.
World Health Organisation (WHO) epidemiologist Megge Miller, said it was too early to confirm the teen was positive for bird flu, nor to panic.
“His clinical symptoms are not quite what we have seen and he doesn’t fit our current case definition,” she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. “We should have results back today or tomorrow.”
Ministry of Agriculture officials say more than 600 chickens from that village have died in the past three weeks, with some testing positive for bird flu.

 

Category: Health