Officials in Cambodia reported that a two-year-old girl had died from bird flu, the second death from the virus in the Southeast Asian country this year.
The health ministry stated in a statement that the kid, who had a fever, cough, and breathing problems, died on Tuesday after contracting the illness while playing among sick hens at her home in the southeast Prey Veng province.
Tests confirmed her contract of the H5N1 form of bird flu, the statement said late Tuesday.
At her family’s house, the toddler “slept and played” close to a cage of chickens, where roughly fifteen of them died and others were sick, it added.
Officials were investigating the source of the virus that killed the girl, the ministry said, adding that avian flu was still a threat in Cambodia.
After consuming contaminated chicken flesh, a 28-year-old Cambodian man also passed away from bird flu last month.
In July, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a warning, stating that fragmented surveillance was making it more difficult to control the threat that the H5N1 type of bird flu posed to people.
In addition to encouraging states to share samples and genetic sequences, the WHO urged all nations to increase influenza surveillance and reporting in humans and animals.
