Bird flu kills Cambodian girl - WHO
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A 13-year-old Cambodian girl has died of bird flu, bringing the country’s death toll from the H5N1 virus to seven since 2003, the World Health Organization and the government said on Friday in a joint statement.
“Samples from the girl tested positive for the influenza H5N1 virus at the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia in Phnom Penh,” said the statement.
The girl, from the eastern province of Kampong Cham bordering Vietnam, fell ill with fever and diarrhoea on Monday after preparing and eating a sick chicken at home, the statement said.
She was taken to a hospital in Phnom Penh where she died on Thursday, it said.
Agricultural officials were sent to test poultry in the area, where chickens were dying before the girl fell ill. Local health and WHO officials were visiting the area to check if there were any more people who had fallen ill.
Bird flu story source: Reuters