PHNOM PENH (Phnom Penh Post/ANN): Ten cases of H5N1 avian influenza have been detected in Cambodia so far in 2025. The two most recent patients are a mother and son from Siem Reap province.

On June 29, the Ministry of Health announced that two additional cases of avian influenza were found in the same area where a 41-year-old woman had tested positive for the H5N1 virus, as confirmed by the National Institute of Public Health on June 16.

An active field investigation to identify suspected cases and those exposed in Lbeuk village, in Puok district’s Donkeo commune – where the 41-year-old woman resides – revealed two more confirmed H5N1 cases: a 46-year-old woman and her 16-year-old son.

The institute confirmed that both individuals tested positive for the H5N1 virus. They are the ninth and 10th cases of bird flu recorded in Cambodia in 2025.

“These two cases reside approximately 20m from the home of the 41-year-old patient. Currently, both patients are in stable condition and are being treated with Tamiflu under close medical supervision,” the ministry stated.

Interviews revealed that at the homes of the patients, as well as at their neighbours’ homes and around the village, there were sick or dead chickens and ducks. The patients had reportedly handled and come into contact with the ill poultry, which they then prepared and ate.

National and subnational rapid response teams from the Health Ministry, in cooperation with provincial agriculture department officials and the local authorities, are actively investigating the outbreak.

They are also responding with technical protocols, identifying sources of infection in both animals and humans, locating suspected cases and those exposed, preventing further community transmission, distributing Tamiflu to close contacts, and launching a health education campaign for villagers.

The 41-year-old woman – the first H5N1 case in the village – had also handled sick and dead poultry at her own home and at her neighbour’s, and prepared them as food five days before falling ill.

The ministry again urged the public to remain vigilant, as H5N1 continues to pose a serious threat to public health.

Symptoms of the infection include fever, cough, runny nose or difficulty breathing.

On June 27, officers from the Provincial Livestock and Animal Health Office of the Siem Reap Agriculture Department, in cooperation with the National Animal Health and Production Research Institute, implemented veterinary measures at the site of an earlier outbreak in Puok district and commune’s Chambak He village.

The team culled 45 eggs and 16 chickens, and disinfected coops and the surrounding area. Samples were also collected from two chickens for further testing. — THE PHNOM PENH POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK