Bird Flu Kills 11-Year-Old Girl in Cambodia, Officials Say

Bird Flu Kills 11-Year-Old Girl in Cambodia, Officials Say
A Cambodia animal health officer (R) and a military police officer place posters about awareness of H5N1 virus threats in hopes of educating villagers to take care of their health in Prey Veng eastern province, Cambodia, on Feb. 23, 2023. Cambodia Ministry of Health via AP
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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died from bird flu in the country’s first known human H5N1 infection since 2014, health officials said.

Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, normally spreads in poultry and wasn’t deemed a threat to people until a 1997 outbreak among visitors to live poultry markets in Hong Kong. Most human cases worldwide have involved direct contact with infected poultry, but concerns have arisen recently about infections in a variety of mammals and the possibility the virus could evolve to spread more easily between people.