8th Cambodian dies of H5N1 infection

A 6-year-old girl from Kampong Cham province of Cambodia was confirmed died from the case of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) virus on Saturday, Sok Touch, director of Anti-Communicable Disease Department of Ministry of Health, said. The girl lived in Taing Thleung Village in Cheung Prey District, Kampong Cham Province, some 120 kilometers east of Phnom Penh, he said, adding that the girl developed symptoms on Aug. 7, was initially treated by local practitioners with no effect and was later admitted to Kantha Bopha Children Hospital in Phnom Penh on Aug. 12. She died on Aug. 14, two days after admission. There have been reports of poultry die off in her village and the case is reported to have had exposure to sick poultry. "The female is the eighteenth person in Cambodia to become infected with the H5N1 virus and the sixteenth to die from complications of the disease. All eight cases of H5N1 infections in humans in Cambodia this year have been fatal," said a statement from the World Health Organization.