An 11-year-old girl developed a high fever and cough on February 16, The Guardian cited an official statement. Her condition worsened on Wednesday and she was transferred to the national children’s hospital in Phnom Penh for treatment but she passed away from the illness.
According to the US CDC, bird flu or human infection with bird flu is a rare occurrence, however, human infection can “occur when the virus enters a person’s eyes, nose, or mouth, or This can happen when the virus is in the body air (in the form of droplets or possibly dust) and a person breathes it in, or maybe when a person touches something that has virus and then touch their mouth, eyes, or nose.”
Common signs of infection are red eyes or conjunctivitis, high fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headache, fatigue, and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
According to reports, the girl’s father and 11 others have also tested positive for H5N1.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the spread of the H5N1 virus to mammals, but says the risk to humans is low. Humans are least susceptible to the H5N1 virus because human cells do not have receptors in the upper respiratory tract to facilitate entry of the virus into the body.
As of 2021, WHO has recorded eight human cases of H5N1 infection from China, India, Spain, the UK and the US.
To date, 15 million poultry have died from the virus and nearly 193 million have been culled.
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- What is bird flu?
Bird flu is a disease caused by infection with avian influenza (flu) virus type A - Can humans get bird flu?
Human infection with bird flu is very rare. But unprotected contact with infected birds increases the risk of infection. - What are the symptoms of bird flu?
Conjunctivitis or red eyes, severe respiratory illness, fever, headache, cough and sore throat are common signs of bird flu.
