Commentary
H5N1
Confirmed Near Phnom Penh Cambodia
Recombinomics Commentary
11:50
December 15, 2008
The outbreak occurred in Kandal province's Kandal Steung district on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, and is the first confirmed infection of the deadly H5N1 virus in Cambodia this year, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation said in a joint statement.
He said the patient, currently being treated at Calmette Hospital, began to show bird flu symptoms of fever, cough, muscle aches and a sore throat on November 28. Infection was confirmed on Thursday after testing at the National Influenza Center in Phnom Penh.
"The disease has not threatened his life because we treated it in time.
The above comments confirm H5N1 in poultry on the outskirts of Phnom Penh (see updated map), where a human case (19M) was recently confirmed. The ProMED report on the patient indicated he developed symptoms on November 28 and was seen at a local clinic on November 30 and October 2. The symptoms were a fever, sore throat, and muscle aches.
Since there was no reported H5N1 in poultry at the time, and the last H5N1 case in Cambodia was in June, 2007, the likelihood that the patient was promptly treated with oseltamivir is remote. The H5N1 link was discovered on December 11 through a screening program of high fever cases.
Thus, the H5N1 infected patient had an upper respiratory infection (URI) much like the symptoms of patients in Assam, raising concerns of the spread of mild H5N1 in Cambodia and India, in the absence of testing.
Information on the treatment of the recovering patient in Cambodia as well as testing of surveyed patients in Assam, India would be useful.
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