An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died in hospital after contracting bird flu.Her father tested positive for the virus that causes her, but it’s unclear if he contracted it from her or her family’s poultry collection.
health
February 24, 2023
Ducks at a market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, February 24 TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images
A young girl in Cambodia who may have contracted bird flu from her family’s small flock of chickens and ducks has died of bird flu. At least one of her close contacts also tested positive for her, but authorities are still awaiting the results of her wider testing.
How many people died from bird flu in recent outbreaks?
An 11-year-old Cambodian girl has died from a subtype of the bird flu virus called H5N1 in Prey Veng province, a province near the capital Phnom Penh. She developed flu-like symptoms on February 16 and after her condition worsened, she was sent to hospital where she died. Her father is the only one who has tested positive for the virus.
how did she catch it?
All of the animals in her home (22 chickens and 3 ducks) died recently, so it could have been from her family’s small collection of ducks and chickens. BNO News, but their cause of death is unknown. There have also been a series of fatal accidents caused by wild birds in this area.
Is bird flu currently spreading among people?
Even though many of the girl’s 12 contacts have tested positive, this doesn’t mean the virus has evolved to spread easily between people. father and other cases say they may have contracted the virus directly from an infected bird. “If she has had contact with poultry in her backyard, she may have had contact with the friends she was playing with,” she said. [with the birds],” she says.
Should we expect more cases?
Since 2021, bird flu has surged in wild bird populations, spreading to domestic poultry flocks and other animals such as foxes and seals that eat birds. This makes the virus more likely to infect humans, says James Wood of the University of Cambridge. “We expect that there will be some cases [human] Wood said in a statement to the UK’s Science Media Centre.
How deadly is bird flu?
Over the past 20 years, approximately 900 human infections with various H5N1 strains have been reported, about half of which have been fatal. But Barclay said the death rate could appear higher than it actually is because many people likely don’t have symptoms or haven’t been tested for the virus. About 30 different genetic variants of the H5N1 virus are now thought to be circulating in birds, and they likely differ in their ability to make humans sick.
Has vaccine production started?
You can’t start mass-producing an avian flu vaccine.
Manufacturers are looking to begin production of regular seasonal vaccines ahead of the northern hemisphere winter. There are risks. “Seasonal vaccines are very important for saving lives,” World Health Organization (WHO) official Sylvie Briand said at a press conference this week. “When we talk about switching vaccines, we need to balance the risks and benefits.”
But manufacturers routinely do preparatory work with “candidate vaccine viruses,” and the WHO has asked them to do this using a selection of H5N1 viruses, the organization announced this week.
Is there a cure?
There are several antiviral therapies for seasonal influenza, such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu), which have been used for treatment and prophylaxis among close contacts of people known to have avian influenza. rice field.
In some cases, H5N1 viruses evolved resistance to oseltamivir, which appeared to be associated with reduced virulence and transmissibility of the virus. At a press conference, the WHO said it was in talks with manufacturers of antiviral drugs about how quickly production could be scaled up.
What if bird flu starts spreading among people?
Briand said that if human-to-human transmission is discovered, health officials will aim to prevent further animal-to-human crossover events and prevent the virus from spreading among humans. This is “by treating cases, isolating cases to prevent further transmission of the virus, and identifying contacts,” she said. We can treat contacts as soon as possible to reduce the likelihood of further transmission to others.”
WHO is also conducting thorough surveillance of the virus, informing communities on how to reduce the risk of infection, and supporting health workers in protective equipment to avoid infection, thereby preventing further spread in neighboring communities. I try to prepare.
More on these topics:
