Posters aimed at raising awareness about bird flu are displayed at the Ministry of Health in Phnom Penh April 6, 2006. The posters 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 Sokunthea2006/4/6
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)
Bird flu remains "a real and present danger" in Cambodia, a senior U.N. official warned Thursday, a day after the virulent H5N1 virus claimed the life of a sixth victim in the Southeast Asian nation.
The 12-year-old boy, from the southeastern province of Prey Veng, died from bird flu on Wednesday, two weeks after a 3-year-old girl succumbed in a village southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.
Tests conducted by the Pasteur Institute confirmed that the boy's cause of death was the H5N1 virus, said Megge Miller, a World Health Organization epidemiologist.
She said several chickens and ducks had died in and near the boy's backyard over a 10-day period before he fell sick on March 29.
The boy was collecting them from around the house and taking them to one of his relatives who would then prepare the poultry for eating, she said.
The two recent fatalities "bring home yet again that bird flu is a real and present danger in Cambodia," said Douglas Gardner, country representative of the U.N. Development Program.
"We would all like to think that these deaths have not been in vain, but should spur on immediate action and urgent distribution of vital information," said Gardner, who also coordinates all U.N. agencies in Cambodia.
He made the comments at a signing ceremony for US$765,000 (€622,800) in aid from the Australian government to the U.N. Children's Fund to implement a bird flu awareness campaign in Cambodia. The funds will be used to produce health education posters and radio and television spots.
Rodney Hatfield, the UNICEF representative, also warned that the traditional Cambodian New Year holiday beginning later next week will prove a critical period for the task of curbing bird flu because of a major population movement during the celebrations.
This will mean more handling and transport of poultry, and a reduced administrative force as staff take their holidays, he said, adding that vacationing children also risk being exposed to the virus.
"Everyone, therefore, needs to be alert to the risks, to report deaths of poultry before we have more deaths of children and to keep children away from all poultry at all times," Hatfield said.
The deadly strain of bird flu resurfaced in Asia in 2003 and has killed at least 108 people. Experts fear it will mutate into a form easily spread among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.
The 12-year-old boy, from the southeastern province of Prey Veng, died from bird flu on Wednesday, two weeks after a 3-year-old girl succumbed in a village southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.
Tests conducted by the Pasteur Institute confirmed that the boy's cause of death was the H5N1 virus, said Megge Miller, a World Health Organization epidemiologist.
She said several chickens and ducks had died in and near the boy's backyard over a 10-day period before he fell sick on March 29.
The boy was collecting them from around the house and taking them to one of his relatives who would then prepare the poultry for eating, she said.
The two recent fatalities "bring home yet again that bird flu is a real and present danger in Cambodia," said Douglas Gardner, country representative of the U.N. Development Program.
"We would all like to think that these deaths have not been in vain, but should spur on immediate action and urgent distribution of vital information," said Gardner, who also coordinates all U.N. agencies in Cambodia.
He made the comments at a signing ceremony for US$765,000 (€622,800) in aid from the Australian government to the U.N. Children's Fund to implement a bird flu awareness campaign in Cambodia. The funds will be used to produce health education posters and radio and television spots.
Rodney Hatfield, the UNICEF representative, also warned that the traditional Cambodian New Year holiday beginning later next week will prove a critical period for the task of curbing bird flu because of a major population movement during the celebrations.
This will mean more handling and transport of poultry, and a reduced administrative force as staff take their holidays, he said, adding that vacationing children also risk being exposed to the virus.
"Everyone, therefore, needs to be alert to the risks, to report deaths of poultry before we have more deaths of children and to keep children away from all poultry at all times," Hatfield said.
The deadly strain of bird flu resurfaced in Asia in 2003 and has killed at least 108 people. Experts fear it will mutate into a form easily spread among people, potentially sparking a pandemic.
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