Cambodia reports 14th human case of H5N1 bird flu in 2025

Phnom Penh, July 29 (IANS) A 26-year-old man from northwest Cambodia's Siem Reap province has been confirmed positive for H5N1 human avian influenza, raising the number of cases to 14 so far this year, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Tuesday.

"A laboratory result from the National Institute of Public Health showed on July 26 that the man was positive for the H5N1 virus," the statement said.

"The patient has the symptoms of fever, cough, sore throat, stomach ache, and breathing difficulty, and is currently being treated by a team of doctors," it added.

The victim lives in Kravann village of Siem Reap city.

"Investigations revealed that there were dead chickens near the patient's house, and he also culled and plucked chickens three days before he fell ill," the statement said.

Health authorities are looking into the source of the infection and are examining any suspected cases or people who have been in contact with the victim in order to prevent an outbreak in the community.

So far this year, the Southeast Asian country has reported a total of 14 human cases of H5N1 bird flu, with five deaths, according to the Ministry of Health, Xinhua news agency reported.

H5N1 influenza is a flu that normally spreads between sick poultry, but can sometimes spread from poultry to humans. Its symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, and severe respiratory illness.

The Ministry of Health called on people to be extra vigilant and not to eat sick or dead poultry, saying that bird flu still threatens people's health.

Since 2022, there have been increasing reports of deadly outbreaks among mammals also caused by influenza A(H5) -- including influenza A(H5N1) -- viruses. There are likely to be more outbreaks that have not been detected or reported. Both land and sea mammals have been affected, including outbreaks in farmed fur animals, seals, sea lions, and detections in other wild and domestic animals such as foxes, bears, otters, raccoons, cats, dogs, cows, goats and others.

Almost all cases of H5N1 virus infection in people have been associated with close contact with infected live or dead birds, or H5N1-contaminated environments, for example, live bird markets. There have been some instances of spread from infected mammals to humans as well.

--IANS

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