Girl Dies from Bird Flu in Cambodia
2023-02-24
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1An 11-year-old girl has died in Cambodia of bird flu.
2Health officials say it was the country's first known human infection of bird flu since 2014.
3The virus, officially known as H5N1, usually spreads among different kinds of poultry.
4Most human cases of bird flu have involved direct contact with infected poultry.
5The girl who died lived in a rural part of southeastern Cambodia.
6She became sick on February 16 and was sent to a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh, to be treated.
7She had suffered with a fever of up to 39 degrees Celsius, as well as a cough and throat pain.
8The girl died shortly after being admitted to the hospital, Cambodia's Health Ministry said in a statement.
9Health workers took samples from a dead wild bird found in an area near the girl's home, the ministry said.
10It said teams in the area would also warn local people about touching dead and sick birds.
11Health Minister Mam Bunheng warned the public that bird flu presents an especially high risk to children who may be working around poultry or collecting eggs from animals.
12Signs of H5N1 infection are similar to that of other flus, including cough, body aches and a high temperature.
13In serious cases, patients can develop life-threatening pneumonia.
14Cambodia had 56 human cases of H5N1 from 2003 through 2014.
15Of those cases, 37 were deadly, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.
16Worldwide, about 870 human infections and 457 deaths have been reported to the WHO in 21 countries.
17But the spreading rate then slowed, with about 170 infections and 50 deaths in the last seven years.
18Earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about bird flu infections in other mammals, including minks, otters, foxes and sea lions.
19"H5N1 has spread widely in wild birds and poultry for 25 years, but the recent spillover to mammals needs to be monitored closely," he warned.
20In January, a 9-year-old girl in Ecuador became the first reported case of human infection in Latin America and the Caribbean.
21She was treated with antiviral medicine.
22Tedros said earlier this month that the WHO still considers the risk to humans from bird flu quite low.
23But he warned that this could change in the future and he urged officials in areas of concern to prepare for possible outbreaks.
24Tedros advised people not to touch dead or sick wild animals and for countries to strengthen their monitoring efforts in areas where people and animals make contact.
25I'm Bryan Lynn.
1An 11-year-old girl has died in Cambodia of bird flu. Health officials say it was the country's first known human infection of bird flu since 2014. 2The virus, officially known as H5N1, usually spreads among different kinds of poultry. Most human cases of bird flu have involved direct contact with infected poultry. 3The girl who died lived in a rural part of southeastern Cambodia. She became sick on February 16 and was sent to a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh, to be treated. 4She had suffered with a fever of up to 39 degrees Celsius, as well as a cough and throat pain. The girl died shortly after being admitted to the hospital, Cambodia's Health Ministry said in a statement. 5Health workers took samples from a dead wild bird found in an area near the girl's home, the ministry said. It said teams in the area would also warn local people about touching dead and sick birds. 6Health Minister Mam Bunheng warned the public that bird flu presents an especially high risk to children who may be working around poultry or collecting eggs from animals. 7Signs of H5N1 infection are similar to that of other flus, including cough, body aches and a high temperature. In serious cases, patients can develop life-threatening pneumonia. 8Cambodia had 56 human cases of H5N1 from 2003 through 2014. Of those cases, 37 were deadly, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported. 9Worldwide, about 870 human infections and 457 deaths have been reported to the WHO in 21 countries. But the spreading rate then slowed, with about 170 infections and 50 deaths in the last seven years. 10Earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about bird flu infections in other mammals, including minks, otters, foxes and sea lions. 11"H5N1 has spread widely in wild birds and poultry for 25 years, but the recent spillover to mammals needs to be monitored closely," he warned. 12In January, a 9-year-old girl in Ecuador became the first reported case of human infection in Latin America and the Caribbean. She was treated with antiviral medicine. 13Tedros said earlier this month that the WHO still considers the risk to humans from bird flu quite low. But he warned that this could change in the future and he urged officials in areas of concern to prepare for possible outbreaks. 14Tedros advised people not to touch dead or sick wild animals and for countries to strengthen their monitoring efforts in areas where people and animals make contact. 15I'm Bryan Lynn. 16The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 17___________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19poultry - n. chickens and other birds that people breed for meat and eggs 20sample - n. a small amount of something that shows you what something is like 21pneumonia - n. a serious lung sickness that makes it difficult to breathe 22mammal - n. an animal that feeds its babies on milk from its body 23monitor - v. to watch something carefully and record the results 24_______________________________________________________________________ 25What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 26Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.