Another H5N1 avian flu case has sur­faced in Cam­bo­dia, that of a 5-year-old girl whose ill­ness was detected ret­ro­spec­tively, accord­ing to the World Health Orga­ni­za­tion (WHO) West­ern Pacific Region Office on 17 May 2013. Her ill­ness, which began on 28 Jan­u­ary 2013, was found dur­ing a fever sur­veil­lance study con­ducted by the US Naval Med­ical Research Unit (NAMRU). Her res­pi­ra­tory sam­ples tested pos­i­tive for H5N1 on 2 May 2013. The girl is from a vil­lage in Kam­pong Speu province. She is alive, and health offi­cials are inves­ti­gat­ing her expo­sure to poul­try, the WHO said. The lat­est infec­tion raises Cambodia’s total num­ber of H5N1 cases to 32, which includes 27 deaths. Her ill­ness is the country’s 11th H5N1 case reported in 2013.

(CIDRAP 5/21/2013)

Hos­pi­tal offi­cials have con­firmed that a six-year-old boy from Kam­pot province has H5N1 avian flu and is in seri­ous con­di­tion. “The boy was admit­ted to the Kan­tha Bopha Hos­pi­tal in Phnom Pen­hon 31 March 2013 for severe pneu­mo­nia, and he tested pos­i­tive for H5N1 at the Insti­tut Pas­teur on 2 April 2013,” said Dr. Denis Lau­rent, deputy direc­tor of the hos­pi­tal. The boy’s ill­ness is the country’s tenth case of H5N1 flu in 2013, eight of which have been fatal. Since 2005 the World Health Orga­ni­za­tion has con­firmed 30 other H5N1 cases in Cam­bo­dia, 27 of which were fatal. Glob­ally more than 600 cases have been confirmed.

(CIDRAP 4/3/2013)