Cambodia reports another human H5N1 avian flu case as Hong Kong notes H9 infection – University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Cambodia's health ministry has reported another human infection from H5N1 avian influenza, part of an uptick in similar cases that began in 2023.

The patient is a 17-year-old girl from Kampot province, according to a ministry statement translated and posted by Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease news blog. Kampot province is in southern Cambodia. The girl is hospitalized in the intensive care unit and is improving.

An investigation found that about 5 days before the girl's symptoms began, there were seven dead chickens at her home.

Cambodia has now reported 5 cases for 2024 and a total of 11 since February 2023, following nearly a decade with no human infections. Genetic sequencing on samples from several cases has revealed that the virus belongs to an older H5N1 clade (2.3.2.1c) that still circulates in poultry in some Asian countries, including Cambodia. It is different from the newer H5N1 clade (2.3.4.4b) that is currently affecting wild birds and poultry in multiple world regions, including the United States.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) today reported an influenza A H9 case, which involves a 22-month-old girl who had recently visited the city of Zhongshan in mainland China's Guangdong province. Her symptoms began on February 15, and she was seen at a hospital the next day but was not admitted. Plans are under way for her to receive care in hospital isolation.

An investigation revealed that she had no direct contact with poultry during her incubation period while visiting the mainland, nor did she eat undercooked poultry or have contact with sick people. One of her home contacts had a sore throat on February 17 that subsided.

The CHP said novel H9 flu virus infections, including H9N2, are typically mild. Hong Kong has reported nine cases since 1999, and its most recent casefrom 2020was also imported.

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Cambodia reports another human H5N1 avian flu case as Hong Kong notes H9 infection - University of Minnesota Twin Cities