More H5N1 bird flu found in birds in Cambodia
he deadly H5N1 bird flu strain has turned up again in eastern Cambodia in the same province the virus hit last month, according to a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report obtained on Thursday.
“H5N1 has been identified in samples, showing that the virus is circulating,” said the FAO bulletin, dated March 2.
It is not clear why the test results, which confirmed H5N1 around 30 km (20 miles) from another outbreak in the eastern province of Kampong Cham in February, took two weeks to emerge.
A Cambodian official who helps coordinate the impoverished Southeast Asian nation’s bird flu surveillance network also confirmed it as H5N1, but asked not to be named for fear of losing his job.
The FAO said 450 ducks, 150 chickens and 15 fighting cocks had displayed symptoms such as respiratory difficulties and cloudy eyes.