PHNOM PENH, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Another human case of H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed on a 5-year-old girl from southern Cambodia's Takeo province, bringing the number of the cases to seven since the start of 2024, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Monday.
"The patient has a fever and is the cousin of a 3-year-old boy, who tested positive for the virus on July 5," the statement said, adding that the two victims live in the same house in Kiri Vong district's Pou village.
"About 10 days before the girl fell ill, chickens and ducks in the village had died and the patient's family cooked them for food, and the patient had direct contact with the dead chickens," the statement said.
Among the seven human cases of H5N1 bird flu so far this year were six children, one of whom died, and an adult. All patients reportedly had a history of recent exposure to sick or dead poultry prior to their illness.
H5N1 influenza is a flu that normally spreads between sick poultry, but it can sometimes spread from poultry to humans, and its symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, and severe respiratory illness.
The ministry said bird flu still poses a threat to people's health, particularly children, urging people not to eat ill or dead poultry.
From 2003 to date, there were 69 cases of human infection with H5N1 influenza, including 42 deaths in the Southeast Asian country, according to the ministry. ■
