Bird flu kills 11-year-old girl in Cambodia, officials say

By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died from bird flu in the country’s first known human H5N1 infection since 2014. Bird flu normally spreads in poultry and most of the 870 human cases worldwide in the past few decades have involved direct contact with infected poultry. However, concerns have arisen recently about infections in a variety of mammals and the possibility the virus could evolve to spread more easily between people. Cambodia’s health ministry said the girl from a rural village fell sick last week and was diagnosed shortly before she died Wednesday. Health officials were taking samples from birds in the area and telling people to avoid contact with sick or dead poultry.