Cambodia confirms H5N1 in 8-year-old girl
An 8-year-old girl in Cambodia has become the country's 21st H5N1 avian flu case-patient this year, according to a detailed statement today from Cambodia's Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Western Pacific Region.
The girl, from O-Raing village in Kampong Thom province in central Cambodia, developed a fever and sneezing on Oct 8, and her parents sought treatment for her the next day at the village clinic. On Oct 10 she also experienced coughing and vomiting, so her parents brought her to a clinic outside their village.
Her condition worsened on Oct 11, and the clinic referred the girl to a hospital in Siem Reap. On hospital admission she had a fever, cough, vomiting, and difficulty breathing. She was treated with oseltamivir (Tamiflu) on Oct 14 and is now in stable condition, the statement said. Testing by the country's Pasteur Institute found her positive for H5N1 on Oct 17.
MoH rapid response teams in O-Raing found that the girl had direct contact with dead poultry when she helped prepare a meal using a chicken that had died earlier.
Of Cambodia's 21 H5N1 cases this year, 11 have been fatal. Since 2005 the country has confirmed 42 cases, 30 of them fatal. Thirty-one have been in children under 14 years old, the statement said.
Oct 22 Cambodia MoH/WHO statement
OIE, FAO extend pact to share animal flu data with WHO
Two global animal health organizations have extended for another 5 years an agreement to share animal influenza data with the World Health Organization (WHO) for use in formulating human flu vaccines.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced the extension yesterday. The two agencies manage OFFLU, a global network of experts on animal flu, one of whose aims is to share data with the WHO for use in choosing the flu strains for human vaccines.
"The first such agreement was signed by the three sister organisations in January 2011," the OIE announcement said. "Since then, OFFLU has collected data about avian influenza viruses isolated from animal samples by the OIE and the FAO Reference Centres, to identify which strains of virus should be relevant for use in human vaccines. These data continue to provide a cornerstone for human pre-pandemic preparedness and for WHO’s ability to understand the potential public health risks arising from influenza viruses circulating in animal populations."
The OIE said the agreement has been extended to last through 2018.
Oct 22 OIE statement