Today (Thursday) the death of an 11-year-old girl from H5N1 bird flu was reported in Phrae Veng province in southeastern Cambodia, a fact that confirms the fears of scientists, who predicted only about a month ago that the disease could be transmitted to humans. This is the first case of death from the disease in the country since 2014. The girl first became ill only six days before her death, and suffered from fever, cough and sore throat. The Department of Communicable Disease Control in the country called on citizens not to touch sick or dead poultry due to suspicion of infection with the virus.
As a result of the publications, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that “the recent spread of the disease to mammals should be closely monitored”. The sad news comes just a week after news agencies reported that a deadly strain of the bird flu virus had mutated and could now affect mammals. Recently it was also found that winters on a breeding farm in Spain infected each other with the strain of the virus.
Bird flu was not considered a threat to humans until 1997, with an outbreak of the disease among visitors to poultry markets in Hong Kong.