Cambodia reports fatal H5N1 avian flu case

Cambodia's health ministry today reported another human H5N1 avian flu case, the country's tenth of the year, according to a statement translated and posted by Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease news blog.

The patient was a 15-year-old girl from Prey Veng province who died from her infection on August 20. An investigation found that chickens had died in the village 5 days before the girl became ill and that she had touched and held dead chickens.

Two earlier cases this summer

Cambodia reported two other H5N1 cases earlier this summer, both from Svay Rieng province. The patients—a 4-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl—were both hospitalized for their infections and both had contact with dead poultry before they got sick.

The cases are part of an uptick in H5N1 cases in Cambodia, which has now reported 18 since early 2023. 

So far, the clade of the H5N1 virus that infected the most recent patient isn't known, but many earlier infections involved an older clade called 2.3.2.1c, which is known to circulate in poultry in some Asian countries, including Cambodia. The H5N1 clade is distinct from the 2.3.4.4b clade circulating globally, including in the United States, where the virus has also infected dairy cows, poultry, and a few farm workers.