More than 100 people have died since disease resurfaced in Asia in 2003
By Ker Munthit
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUOL PRIK, Cambodia - Two days after Cheoun Uork's 3-year-old daughter died, health officials told him she had succumbed to bird flu. He had never heard of the virus.
The toddler's death was emblematic of Cambodia's struggle to alert its countryside to the threat of bird flu. Too often it has taken a tragedy for villagers to realize they've even had an outbreak.
"Had I known about such a warning, I would have taken better precautions to protect my daughter," said Choeun Uork, 30, wearing a white T-shirt printed with a bird flu awareness message. "She was my only child, and now I have to live with regret over her death."
The rapid spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has triggered alarm worldwide, with health experts fearing it could mutate into a form easily spread among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.
Since resurfacing in Asia in 2003, it has killed more than 100 people.
Yet in rural Cambodia, many remain ignorant of its threat.
Mon Puthy's death last month -- Cambodia's fifth since January 2005 -- spurred the government to intensify efforts to raise awareness. Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered an intense television and radio education campaign. But it's a race against time.
Two weeks after the girl's death, a 12-year-old boy in the southeastern province of Prey Veng became the country's sixth bird flu victim.
"There's obviously a lack of awareness in this community (about) what bird flu is," said Megge Miller, a World Health Organization epidemiologist in Cambodia. "When we went into the field, families were asking questions, 'What is avian influenza? What is this about?'"
Because of budget constraints, the government has focused on only five of the country's 24 provinces.
The five are considered at high risk because they are near the borders with Thailand and Vietnam, two of the countries worst hit by bird flu, said Ly Sovann, head of disease surveillance control at the Health Ministry.
Part of the problem is that access to television is scarce in the countryside.
"Sometimes, people are enjoying music on the radio, and if a commercial or education spot pops up after the song, they will switch to another channel for more music," he said. "That is why face-to-face communication with villagers is more crucial for training and encouraging them to take part in prevention of the disease," he said.
But Miller estimated it would take 40,000 volunteers to help spread the message throughout communities -- an undertaking that would require substantial funding from foreign donors.
Douglas Gardner, a senior U.N. development official, said Cambodia needed about $18 million to tackle bird flu for an 18-month period.
The recent deaths, he said, suggest many outbreaks have gone undetected until someone dies.
Miller said spreading the message includes teaching villagers about personal hygiene and a clean living environment. Volunteers are also trying to break villagers of the habit of eating sick birds -- a struggle in a poor country where people are reluctant to let food go to waste.
"It's a habit they have practiced for hundreds of years without having any problems with their health. When we tell them it now can cause problem, they hear it but sometimes refuse to believe it. And many of them still don't believe it now," said Kao Phal, director of Animal health department in the Agriculture Ministry.
In this village set against rice paddies in Kampong Speu province, few people thought anything unusual was happening when chickens started dying in March.
Like many rural Cambodians, Mon Puthy's mother, Choeun Sokny, said she cooked chickens that died of disease. But she insists her daughter never touched the birds, though WHO officials concluded the girl became infected through exposure to sick poultry.
"The kids next door played with and hugged chickens all the times, but they did not get sick," she said.
Her grandfather, Khieu Mak, doesn't believe she died of bird flu at all.
"I think it's the black magic power that killed her so fast at the hospital. She would not have died if she was treated at home with Khmer traditional medicines," said Khieu Mak, 47.
Still, life has changed in Tuol Prik, where Mon Puthy's body was cremated in a field about 300 feet from her wooden house.
Posters warning of bird flu are attached to coconut trees and house walls. The village was quarantined, and 200 chickens and ducks were destroyed. School teachers tell their students to avoid touching sick birds.
"I will not touch dead chickens anymore because I am scared of bird flu. My teacher said it can take our lives," said Hem Pov, an 8-year-old neighbor of the dead girl.
The toddler's death was emblematic of Cambodia's struggle to alert its countryside to the threat of bird flu. Too often it has taken a tragedy for villagers to realize they've even had an outbreak.
"Had I known about such a warning, I would have taken better precautions to protect my daughter," said Choeun Uork, 30, wearing a white T-shirt printed with a bird flu awareness message. "She was my only child, and now I have to live with regret over her death."
The rapid spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has triggered alarm worldwide, with health experts fearing it could mutate into a form easily spread among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.
Since resurfacing in Asia in 2003, it has killed more than 100 people.
Yet in rural Cambodia, many remain ignorant of its threat.
Mon Puthy's death last month -- Cambodia's fifth since January 2005 -- spurred the government to intensify efforts to raise awareness. Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered an intense television and radio education campaign. But it's a race against time.
Two weeks after the girl's death, a 12-year-old boy in the southeastern province of Prey Veng became the country's sixth bird flu victim.
"There's obviously a lack of awareness in this community (about) what bird flu is," said Megge Miller, a World Health Organization epidemiologist in Cambodia. "When we went into the field, families were asking questions, 'What is avian influenza? What is this about?'"
Because of budget constraints, the government has focused on only five of the country's 24 provinces.
The five are considered at high risk because they are near the borders with Thailand and Vietnam, two of the countries worst hit by bird flu, said Ly Sovann, head of disease surveillance control at the Health Ministry.
Part of the problem is that access to television is scarce in the countryside.
"Sometimes, people are enjoying music on the radio, and if a commercial or education spot pops up after the song, they will switch to another channel for more music," he said. "That is why face-to-face communication with villagers is more crucial for training and encouraging them to take part in prevention of the disease," he said.
But Miller estimated it would take 40,000 volunteers to help spread the message throughout communities -- an undertaking that would require substantial funding from foreign donors.
Douglas Gardner, a senior U.N. development official, said Cambodia needed about $18 million to tackle bird flu for an 18-month period.
The recent deaths, he said, suggest many outbreaks have gone undetected until someone dies.
Miller said spreading the message includes teaching villagers about personal hygiene and a clean living environment. Volunteers are also trying to break villagers of the habit of eating sick birds -- a struggle in a poor country where people are reluctant to let food go to waste.
"It's a habit they have practiced for hundreds of years without having any problems with their health. When we tell them it now can cause problem, they hear it but sometimes refuse to believe it. And many of them still don't believe it now," said Kao Phal, director of Animal health department in the Agriculture Ministry.
In this village set against rice paddies in Kampong Speu province, few people thought anything unusual was happening when chickens started dying in March.
Like many rural Cambodians, Mon Puthy's mother, Choeun Sokny, said she cooked chickens that died of disease. But she insists her daughter never touched the birds, though WHO officials concluded the girl became infected through exposure to sick poultry.
"The kids next door played with and hugged chickens all the times, but they did not get sick," she said.
Her grandfather, Khieu Mak, doesn't believe she died of bird flu at all.
"I think it's the black magic power that killed her so fast at the hospital. She would not have died if she was treated at home with Khmer traditional medicines," said Khieu Mak, 47.
Still, life has changed in Tuol Prik, where Mon Puthy's body was cremated in a field about 300 feet from her wooden house.
Posters warning of bird flu are attached to coconut trees and house walls. The village was quarantined, and 200 chickens and ducks were destroyed. School teachers tell their students to avoid touching sick birds.
"I will not touch dead chickens anymore because I am scared of bird flu. My teacher said it can take our lives," said Hem Pov, an 8-year-old neighbor of the dead girl.
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