Cambodian toddler dies of bird flu

A two-year-old girl has died from bird flu in Cambodia, officials said, the Southeast Asian nation’s second death from the virus this year.

The girl caught the virus playing near sick chickens at her home in southeastern Prey Veng province and died on Tuesday after suffering fever, coughing and breathing difficulties, the health ministry said in a statement.

Tests confirmed she had contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu, according to the statement released late Tuesday.

The toddler “slept and played” near a chicken cage at her family home where about 15 birds died and others are sick, it added.

The ministry warned bird flu remained a threat in Cambodia and said officials were investigating the source of the virus that caused the girl’s death.

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Last month, a 28-year-old Cambodian man also died from bird flu after eating infected chicken meat.

The World Health Organization warned in July that patchy surveillance was hampering its ability to manage the risk to humans posed by the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

The WHO called on all countries to step up influenza surveillance and reporting in animals and humans, and for nations to share samples and genetic sequences.