E-Paper
Bird flu human-to-human transmission? What Cambodia found following 2 cases
Bird Flu In Cambodia: “Both cases have been concluded as H5N1 virus transmission from poultry, and this event is NOT a human-to-human transmission,” the statement read.
Cambodia health officials ruled out the possibility of human-to-human transmission of bird flu following two cases in the country which had raised alarm. A father and daughter who were recently infected with bird flu in Cambodia got it from direct exposure to sick animals, health officials said.
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Two recent cases in Cambodia had raised concerns that it could be possible that the disease was transmitting from human-to-human. Last month, a 11-year-old girl died from the H5N1 virus in the country following which her father was diagnosed. The man later recovered from the virus after being hospitalized while tests on 51 other people, including 20 of their close contacts and 31 who were showing flu-like symptoms, all tested negative, Cambodia’s Ministry of Health said in a statement.
“Both cases have been concluded as H5N1 virus transmission from poultry, and this event is NOT a human-to-human transmission,” the statement read.
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Samples of the virus taken from the girl and her father both showed genetic changes that occur when it passes from a bird to a human, analysis conducted at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge’s virology unit said adding that there was no indication of mutations or adaption that would make it more transmissible among mammals.
Cambodia also sent the full genome virus sequence to GISAID. Currently, the strain found in Cambodia is known as 2.3.2.1c which has been dominant in Southeast Asia for years.
