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Bird Flu Claims its 10th Victim in Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Aug 20 (Prensa Latina) A nine-year-old became the tenth fatal victim from the H5N1 bird flu so far in 2013 in Cambodia, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) released here today.
The child contracted the disease after handling ducks and chickens in a family farming in the northwestern province Battambag, according to medical tests from the hospital.
Cambodia experienced since January the worst outbreak of avian infection in the world, surpassing in lethality the one registered in 2011, when eight people died.
The latter reaffirmed the contagion via animal, and the resulting calls by health authorities to monitor the health of the birds and keep them out of reach of children.
International experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that facilitates human transmission after the appearance of H7N9 in China, with 134 confirmed cases and at least 34 deaths.
Around 5 000 sick birds were culled weeks ago in the Vietnamese province Tien Giang in the Mekong Delta neighboring Cambodia, with which is conducting a fluid commercial freight traffic.
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