A posters aimed at raising awareness about bird flu is displayed at the Ministry of Health in Phnom Penh April 6, 2006. The poster will be distributed across Cambodia. Bird flu has killed a 12-year-old boy in Cambodia, the impoverished Southeast Asian nation's sixth victim, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Chor SokuntheaPhnom Penh Post, Issue 15 / 07, April 7 - 20, 2006
By Sam Rith
Two children have died of bird flu in the past month, and the government says it will continue to fight the lethal virus by the mass culling of poultry wherever bird flu is found, said a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).
"We have to implement the strategy that we submitted to the United Nations - we must crack down on outbreaks where they are found," said Yim Voeunthan, secretary of state at the MAFF.
"For example, if the outbreak takes place in Kampong Cham, we have to clean out that place by killing chickens and ducks after we determine that the poultry have bird flu."
But the government is not paying compensation to farmers whose flocks are culled, and farmers are reported to be resisting culls, rushing their birds to the market before government officials can kill them.
Six Cambodians have died of bird flu since January 2005. Last year, four people died of the disease in Kampot province. This year two people have died of bird flu in two widely separated provinces - one in Kampong Speu on March 21, and the other a 12-year-old boy in Prey Veng whose death was confirmed on April 5.
Ly Sovann, deputy director of the communicable diseases control department at the Ministry of Health, said of the outbreak in Prey Veng that he awaited the test results of 17 people who touched the dead boy or had eaten chickens that had died of illness. Test results on four boys who had accompanied the dead boy were negative.
Sovann said the 12-year-old boy contracted H5N1 because he had physical contact with a dead chicken infected with bird flu. He said the boy died at Calmette Hospital six days after he became ill.
According to a joint statement by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization released on April 6, none of the other 25 people who may have had contact with the infected bird showed any signs of bird flu. The statement says Ministry of Health officials will search house to house for locals exhibiting symptoms such as fever and coughing, and anyone who had contact with sick or dead poultry.
Bird flu outbreaks have now been found across Cambodia - in Kampot, Kandal, Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu and Prey Veng.
"The outbreaks are not big, they are just households. But we are sorry, we always have people die when a bird flu outbreak occurs," Voeunthan said. "Until now, we haven't been able to identify clearly from where [the outbreak] comes from."
He said that so far this year more than 1,000 infected chickens and ducks have been slaughtered. The government has launched a campaign to educate people about bird flu through banners, posters, sporting events and government announcements on radio and TV.
On April 6, Australia offered US $765,000 to the Ministry of Health, through UNICEF and AusAID, to support the "Communication for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness" project.
Voeunthan said the government does not compensate people whose poultry has been killed by bird flu or culled by health officials.
"Just recently, I heard the WHO plans to provide a budget to the government for paying compensation," he said. "However, we cannot consider it official yet until the money is handed to us."
Dr Megge Miller, disease response specialist at WHO, said the budget for paying compensation to the people will come from international donors, not WHO.
"It is up to the Cambodian government whether to change policy to pay compensation to people," Miller said. "WHO has been an advocate in trying to get the policy changed to enable people not to lose their livelihood."
"We have to implement the strategy that we submitted to the United Nations - we must crack down on outbreaks where they are found," said Yim Voeunthan, secretary of state at the MAFF.
"For example, if the outbreak takes place in Kampong Cham, we have to clean out that place by killing chickens and ducks after we determine that the poultry have bird flu."
But the government is not paying compensation to farmers whose flocks are culled, and farmers are reported to be resisting culls, rushing their birds to the market before government officials can kill them.
Six Cambodians have died of bird flu since January 2005. Last year, four people died of the disease in Kampot province. This year two people have died of bird flu in two widely separated provinces - one in Kampong Speu on March 21, and the other a 12-year-old boy in Prey Veng whose death was confirmed on April 5.
Ly Sovann, deputy director of the communicable diseases control department at the Ministry of Health, said of the outbreak in Prey Veng that he awaited the test results of 17 people who touched the dead boy or had eaten chickens that had died of illness. Test results on four boys who had accompanied the dead boy were negative.
Sovann said the 12-year-old boy contracted H5N1 because he had physical contact with a dead chicken infected with bird flu. He said the boy died at Calmette Hospital six days after he became ill.
According to a joint statement by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization released on April 6, none of the other 25 people who may have had contact with the infected bird showed any signs of bird flu. The statement says Ministry of Health officials will search house to house for locals exhibiting symptoms such as fever and coughing, and anyone who had contact with sick or dead poultry.
Bird flu outbreaks have now been found across Cambodia - in Kampot, Kandal, Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu and Prey Veng.
"The outbreaks are not big, they are just households. But we are sorry, we always have people die when a bird flu outbreak occurs," Voeunthan said. "Until now, we haven't been able to identify clearly from where [the outbreak] comes from."
He said that so far this year more than 1,000 infected chickens and ducks have been slaughtered. The government has launched a campaign to educate people about bird flu through banners, posters, sporting events and government announcements on radio and TV.
On April 6, Australia offered US $765,000 to the Ministry of Health, through UNICEF and AusAID, to support the "Communication for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness" project.
Voeunthan said the government does not compensate people whose poultry has been killed by bird flu or culled by health officials.
"Just recently, I heard the WHO plans to provide a budget to the government for paying compensation," he said. "However, we cannot consider it official yet until the money is handed to us."
Dr Megge Miller, disease response specialist at WHO, said the budget for paying compensation to the people will come from international donors, not WHO.
"It is up to the Cambodian government whether to change policy to pay compensation to people," Miller said. "WHO has been an advocate in trying to get the policy changed to enable people not to lose their livelihood."
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