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Although it has yet to appear on Cambodia’s MOH website, the following joint statement from the MOH and the World Health Organization appears on the UN Cambodia Website, detailing that nation’s 6th reported H5N1 case of the year.
Of note, this case is from the outskirts (Khan Porsenchey) of Phnom Penh City, which is both the capital, and most populous city in Cambodia (pop. 2.2 million).
Despite ongoing and frequent reports of H5N1 cases reported in Cambodia over the past couple of years, their sporadic nature and broad geographic distribution show no evidence of sustained or efficient community-level transmission, and so the assumption is that the vast majority of these infections came from exposure to infected birds or their environment.
6th New Human Case of Avian Influenza H5N1 in Cambodia in 2014
Joint Press Release From the Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Cambodia, and the World Health Organization (WHO)
Phnom Penh, 07 March 2014
The Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kingdom of Cambodia wishes to advise members of the public that one (1) new human case of avian influenza has been confirmed for the H5N1 virus. This is the 6th case this year and the 53rd person to become infected with the H5N1 virus in Cambodia. The case is from Phnom Penh City. Of the 53 confirmed cases, 41 were children under 14, and 29 of the 53 were female. In addition, since the first case happened in Cambodia in 2005 there were only 18 cases survived.
A 3-year-old boy from Prey Lyea village, Sangkat Chom-Chao commune, Khan Por-SenChey district, Phnom Penh province, was detected by the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) on 3rd March and confirmed positive by Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC), on 3rd March. The boy had onset symptoms of fever, cough, running nose and vomiting on 22nd February 2014. His parents sought treatment at a private clinic on the same day. His condition worsened and the boy was admitted to National Pediatric Hospital (NPH) on 28th February. On 2nd March, the boy had symptoms of fever, cough, running nose, vomiting, dyspnea, and cyanoses and was transferred to Calmette Hospital on the same day. The boy died about one hour after his admission on 2nd March.
Around mid-February, over 90% of the chickens and small number of ducks suddenly died in the village. The boy was often going to a neighbour’s house where their poultry died. The relatives reported that the boy had no direct contact but the chickens died in close proximity to the house of the case.
The national and local Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are conducting outbreak investigation and responses following the national protocol.
The World Health Organization’s most recent public health assessment on the H5N1 virus reads:
Overall public health risk assessment for avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses: Whenever influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases are possible, especially in people exposed to infected household poultry or contaminated environments. This influenza A(H5N1) virus does not currently appear to transmit easily among people. As such, the risk of community-level spread of this virus remains low.
