Cambodia reports second bird flu death of the year

A two-year-old girl has died from bird flu in Cambodia. According to health authorities, she caught it playing near sick chickens at her home and died after suffering fever, coughing, and breathing difficulties. Tests later confirmed she had contracted the H5N1 strain of bird flu. It is the second death from the disease registered by the Southeast Asian country this year. Last month, a 28-year-old man also died from bird flu after eating infected chicken meat.
The Cambodian health ministry said it was investigating the girl’s death and remarked on the threat posed by bird flu to the country. Last summer, the WHO warned that patchy surveillance was increasing the risk of humans getting the disease and called on all countries to step up preventive measures and share samples and genetic sequences of the virus.