A Cambodian worker carries ducks at a market in Phnom Penh, August 2006. A new outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in ducks on two family farms in eastern Cambodia, where the deadly H5N1 virus was also detected last month, senior agricultural officials have said.
Wednesday • September 6, 2006
AFP
A new outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in ducks on two family farms in eastern Cambodia, where the deadly H5N1 virus was also detected last month, senior agricultural officials have said.
Tests confirmed bird flu in five of 12 samples taken after nearly 500 ducks died last week in Kompong Cham province, said Yim Voeunthan, secretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture.
"The result came out on Friday confirming that five samples are positive for the H5N1 virus," he told AFP.
He said health officials destroyed the remaining 300 ducks on Saturday and disinfected the area.
Last month, two outbreaks of bird flu were discovered in the same province, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of ducks.
The virus re-emerged in the kingdom earlier in August in ducks in Prey Veng province, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) east of the Cambodian capital where 1,400 birds died or were slaughtered, after a four-month lull.
So far, only six people have died from the H5N1 strain of the virus since 2003 in Cambodia, which has largely been spared the devastation suffered by its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam.
But most poultry in Cambodia is raised on small farms or in backyards, making it difficult to prevent the spread of the virus, and farmers in the impoverished agricultural country are also likely to resist efforts to combat outbreaks if it means culling valuable birds.
The H5N1 virus circulates among wild birds and poultry, which can then pass it on to humans nearby, but human-to-human transmission is hard in the virus' present form. The disease has killed nearly 140 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003.
Tests confirmed bird flu in five of 12 samples taken after nearly 500 ducks died last week in Kompong Cham province, said Yim Voeunthan, secretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture.
"The result came out on Friday confirming that five samples are positive for the H5N1 virus," he told AFP.
He said health officials destroyed the remaining 300 ducks on Saturday and disinfected the area.
Last month, two outbreaks of bird flu were discovered in the same province, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of ducks.
The virus re-emerged in the kingdom earlier in August in ducks in Prey Veng province, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) east of the Cambodian capital where 1,400 birds died or were slaughtered, after a four-month lull.
So far, only six people have died from the H5N1 strain of the virus since 2003 in Cambodia, which has largely been spared the devastation suffered by its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam.
But most poultry in Cambodia is raised on small farms or in backyards, making it difficult to prevent the spread of the virus, and farmers in the impoverished agricultural country are also likely to resist efforts to combat outbreaks if it means culling valuable birds.
The H5N1 virus circulates among wild birds and poultry, which can then pass it on to humans nearby, but human-to-human transmission is hard in the virus' present form. The disease has killed nearly 140 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003.
1 comment:
Our Cambodian saying goes " If the country is being led by a group of monkies ( Blind men and women ), the country will face hungry, starvation, miseries, robberies, kidnapping, trafficking all kind of illegal activities such as drugs, woman and children etc..., Flood and drought will be very often affected. All kind of animals will died continously like bird flue, mouth and leg deseases etc..... Unless thse monkies understood the interest of the country and resign then, the country can be reversed.
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