A Cambodian man eats roasted chicken at a restaurant in Phnom Penh April 6, 2006. 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 SokuntheaBANGKOK (AP)--A top United Nations bird flu expert said Monday that Cambodian villagers have failed to report sick birds because they have little or no incentive to do so.
A 12-year-old boy, from the southeastern province of Prey Veng, died from bird flu last Wednesday, two weeks after a 3-year-old girl succumbed in a village southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. Both died after coming in contact with sick fowl.
"In both cases, the village knew about the dangers of these diseased birds, but somehow that knowledge wasn't turned and put into practice," David Nabarro, the U.N.'s chief coordinator for avian influenza, told a news conference in Bangkok. "In both cases, the diseased birds shouldn't really have been there."
Nabarro stopped in Thailand during a regional tour to assess countries' flu pandemic preparedness and the work being done to combat bird flu in poultry. Before arriving in Thailand, he had visited Vietnam, China and Laos and will next travel to Indonesia.
Throughout Southeast Asia, villagers who report their sick birds to authorities for culling are meant to be compensated for the market price of the bird.
Nabarro said U.N. officials have been trying to establish why villagers are not telling authorities when their birds die and "whether that means that the incentive payments for reporting are either not getting through or are not sufficient."
U.N. officials were discussing with the Cambodian government the best way to administer payments, he said.
"It's a question of ensuring that the government is comfortable about some of the challenges of administering a cash compensation scheme. These are not easy to administer, and governments need to feel confident they've got the right mechanisms to do so," he said.
The recent deaths in Cambodia brought to six the total number of human fatalities.
The H5N1 virus has killed 109 people in nine countries, mostly in Asia, according to WHO, and has killed or prompted authorities to destroy 200 million birds.
A 12-year-old boy, from the southeastern province of Prey Veng, died from bird flu last Wednesday, two weeks after a 3-year-old girl succumbed in a village southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. Both died after coming in contact with sick fowl.
"In both cases, the village knew about the dangers of these diseased birds, but somehow that knowledge wasn't turned and put into practice," David Nabarro, the U.N.'s chief coordinator for avian influenza, told a news conference in Bangkok. "In both cases, the diseased birds shouldn't really have been there."
Nabarro stopped in Thailand during a regional tour to assess countries' flu pandemic preparedness and the work being done to combat bird flu in poultry. Before arriving in Thailand, he had visited Vietnam, China and Laos and will next travel to Indonesia.
Throughout Southeast Asia, villagers who report their sick birds to authorities for culling are meant to be compensated for the market price of the bird.
Nabarro said U.N. officials have been trying to establish why villagers are not telling authorities when their birds die and "whether that means that the incentive payments for reporting are either not getting through or are not sufficient."
U.N. officials were discussing with the Cambodian government the best way to administer payments, he said.
"It's a question of ensuring that the government is comfortable about some of the challenges of administering a cash compensation scheme. These are not easy to administer, and governments need to feel confident they've got the right mechanisms to do so," he said.
The recent deaths in Cambodia brought to six the total number of human fatalities.
The H5N1 virus has killed 109 people in nine countries, mostly in Asia, according to WHO, and has killed or prompted authorities to destroy 200 million birds.
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