Posters aimed at raising awareness about bird flu are displayed at the Ministry
of Health in Phnom Penh, April 6, 2006.
PHNOM PENH — Two Cambodians have already died from bird
flu in 2013, making a worrying start to the year.
Now a two-year-old Cambodian girl is in a serious condition in Phnom Penh after
being hospitalized with the H5N1 virus, also known as avian, or bird, flu.
Sonny Inbaraj Krishnan, the communications officer for the World Health Organization in
Phnom Penh, says the development has health professionals concerned.
“This is the fourth case this month of human influenza H5N1," Krishnan
said. "Last year we had three cases, so within one month in the new year
we've got four cases, and we're quite concerned about that.”
H5N1, which can spread from infected poultry to people, was first detected in
humans in 1997 in Hong Kong. It is potent: to date it has killed some 360
people worldwide, more than half of those confirmed as infected.
The latest victims here were a 15-year-old girl, who died a week ago, and a
35-year-old man, who died last Wednesday. A baby who fell ill earlier in the
month has recovered.
Over the weekend officials culled and burned more than 4,000 chickens and ducks
in the village that was home to the 15-year-old victim.
However, other diseases such as dengue and malaria kill many more people than
H5N1, so Krishnan was asked what is the concern with avian flu?
“Well our specific worry is that this H5N1 virus could undergo what we call a
recombination and then re-assortment with another influenza virus," he
explained, "and that could give rise to a new virus that is transmittable
between humans - so that’s our main concern.”
Cambodia is a predominantly agricultural nation, and every village has its
chickens and ducks. Health ministry staff are monitoring those who came into
contact with the patients who were infected, and teams from the agriculture
ministry are testing poultry in the affected villages and destroying sick
birds.
On Friday Health Minister Mam Bunheng called on parents to ensure their
children wash their hands regularly, and stay away from sick and dead poultry.
He also advised that children who develop breathing difficulties should be
taken directly to the nearest health clinic.
Krishnan says TV and radio are being used to spread that message.
“So from this week onwards we're going to increase the number of radio and TV
spots - telling them how to protect themselves and their families from avian
influenza," he explained. "Especially to watch out for children
playing with chickens - and also a very important message is to wash your
hands.”
Cambodia reported its first cases of H5N1 in 2005 when four people died. To
date the worst year was 2011 when eight people were infected. All eight died.
The country’s weak health sector is a hindrance and likely goes some way to
explaining why Cambodia’s avian flu fatality rate of nearly 90 percent - 21
dead from a total of 24 infected - is so much higher than the global average of
around 60 percent.
The WHO’s Krishnan cautions against drawing too many conclusions from that,
pointing out that the sample size is small. But, he says, there are local
factors that compound the problem. When people fall ill, the first place their
relatives take them is typically the local pharmacy or a private clinic. H5N1
can kill in little more than a week after infection, so losing a few days in
failed treatments and misdiagnoses can be fatal.
“So as the cases get worse and when the local clinics or the pharmacies can no
longer prescribe any medicine, that’s when they're told to bring the kid or the
patient to the hospital, and when they reach the hospital the chances are slim
that they would survive,” Krishnan said.
One looming complication is Chinese New Year, which starts on February 8. It is
a time when large numbers of poultry are transported to markets, and that
raises the risk that infected birds could spread the disease. Health
professionals are hoping the information efforts underway now will pay off.
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