By Kuch Naren and Douglas Gillison
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed Friday that more than 3,000 ducks in two Kompong Cham province districts have died of bird flu, officials said Sunday.
The announcement marks the second time in a week that officials have confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 virus in Cambodia.
But some of the ducks that died in Batheay and Tbong Khmum districts had been in Prey Veng province's Preah Sdach district, where the virus' presence was confirmed Aug 11, Kong Chhoeurn, director of Kompong Cham province's agriculture and fishery department, said Sunday.
Tests performed on the three owners of the Kompong Cham province ducks, who were thought to have contracted the disease, turned up negative.
An owner in Tbong Khmum district's Suong commune has admitted smuggling his ducks to Kompong Cham province after other ducks in Prey Veng province began to get sick, Kong Chhoeurn said.
"In late July, all those ducks were smuggled to Suong commune after a lot of ducks died in Prey Veng," he said "So the ducks really contracted the virus when they were feeding in Prey Veng province."
Ducks had been known to carry the virus but it is unusual for it to cause such high mortality among them, said Megge Miller, an epidemiologist for the World Health Organization.
This may act as an early warning, she said. "If ducks are starting to get sick, then we get the alert much earlier," she said. "If that’s reported to the agricultural authorities, we can nip the virus in the bud before it gets entrenched."
There were no other suspected human cases in the area, said Sok Touch, director of the Health Ministry's communicable disease control department.
The announcement marks the second time in a week that officials have confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N1 virus in Cambodia.
But some of the ducks that died in Batheay and Tbong Khmum districts had been in Prey Veng province's Preah Sdach district, where the virus' presence was confirmed Aug 11, Kong Chhoeurn, director of Kompong Cham province's agriculture and fishery department, said Sunday.
Tests performed on the three owners of the Kompong Cham province ducks, who were thought to have contracted the disease, turned up negative.
An owner in Tbong Khmum district's Suong commune has admitted smuggling his ducks to Kompong Cham province after other ducks in Prey Veng province began to get sick, Kong Chhoeurn said.
"In late July, all those ducks were smuggled to Suong commune after a lot of ducks died in Prey Veng," he said "So the ducks really contracted the virus when they were feeding in Prey Veng province."
Ducks had been known to carry the virus but it is unusual for it to cause such high mortality among them, said Megge Miller, an epidemiologist for the World Health Organization.
This may act as an early warning, she said. "If ducks are starting to get sick, then we get the alert much earlier," she said. "If that’s reported to the agricultural authorities, we can nip the virus in the bud before it gets entrenched."
There were no other suspected human cases in the area, said Sok Touch, director of the Health Ministry's communicable disease control department.
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