Cambodian man's bird flu death confirmed

A Cambodian man who died this week has tested positive for a severe strain of bird flu, the government said today, raising the country’s death toll from the disease to two.

Test results from the Pasteur Institute in the capital Phnom Penh showed that 26-year-old Meas Ran who died earlier this week had the H5N1 strain of bird flu, Deputy Agriculture Minister Yim Voeun Tharn said.

Deputy Health Minister Heng Tay Kry confirmed that Meas Ran tested positive for H5N1.

That strain of bird flu began ravaging Asian poultry farms in December 2003, and has also claimed 47 human lives from Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Meas Ran, from southern Kampot province, died at a Phnom Penh hospital on Tuesday after falling sick with a respiratory illness.

A 25-year-old woman from the same province also died from the disease on January 30 in neighbouring Vietnam.

About 30 chickens raised by the man’s parents in the province’s Tram Sorsor village had died early this month, Yim Voeurn Tharn said.

Megge Miller, an epidemiologist with the UN World Health Organisation, said that before Meas Ran fell ill, he had collected chickens that were dying around his house and plucked them.

“We think he got sick from plucking the chickens,” Miller said.

Officials from the government, the WHO and the Pasteur Institute were inspecting the village and surrounding areas for further signs of the disease, she said.

Health Minister Nuth Sokhom said laboratory tests were being conducted on a sample taken from an 18-year-old man from the area who also became sick. He did not elaborate.

The man’s symptoms “don’t really look like bird flu,” though officials were still waiting for the test results, Miller said.

Nuth Sokhom said tests on other villagers who came into contact with Meas Ran or ate sick chickens were negative for bird flu.

Yesterday, Yim Voeurn Tharn said there was no bird flu outbreak in Tram Sorsor, but that there had been outbreaks in nearby villages.

Villagers did not immediately tell authorities about the sick chickens for fear officials would slaughter their remaining stock. Many people apparently ate the sick birds.

Officials have tested six of the dead chickens from the area, and two have so far tested positive for avian flu.

Miller said the WHO has approved a 40,000 US dollar(£21,000) grant to help the Cambodian government fight bird flu. It would fund a public education campaign and cover laboratory testing costs.