Cambodian Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday that a 3-year-old girl died of bird flu.

The girl from Kampong Speu province, about 45 km west of the capital, was infected with avian influenza and died on Tuesday, said a joint statement of Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) released on Friday.

The girl is the first case detected in Cambodia in 2006, and brings the total number of avian influenza cases in Cambodia to five, with four cases reported during 2005.

The girl became ill with a fever on the March 14 and her condition deteriorated rapidly on March 20 when she was taken to the hospital in Phnom Penh, where she died on Tuesday, according to the statement.

Samples from the girl tested positive for influenza A/H5N1 virus at the Pasteur Institute in Phnom Penh, it announced.

The girl was known to have contact with sick and dead chickens and this was the most likely source of exposure. it said.

A total of 42 contacts were identified and samples were taken. Four of the contacts are being monitored and followed up by the Ministry of Health as they have mild fever. Three others were identified with mild symptoms and contact with poultry that had died around the village. Laboratory results from the suspected cases are likely to be known early next week, it said.

The investigation by Ministry of Agriculture found that chickens had been dying in the village before and at the time the girl became ill.

Staff from the Ministry of Health will continue to conduct active case finding in the village and provide education sessions to concerned villages, officials said. Health Centers in the district will also be put on alert for the signs and symptoms of avian influenza in human, according to the statement.

Source: Xinhua