VOA新闻杂志2023--Girl Dies from Bird Flu in Cambodia

Girl Dies from Bird Flu in Cambodia

An 11-year-old girl has died in Cambodia of bird flu. Health officials say it was the country's first known human infection of bird flu since 2014.

The virus, officially known as H5N1, usually spreads among different kinds of poultry¹. Most human cases of bird flu have involved direct contact with infected poultry.

The girl who died lived in a rural² part of southeastern Cambodia. She became sick on February 16 and was sent to a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh, to be treated.

She had suffered with a fever of up to 39 degrees Celsius³, as well as a cough and throat pain. The girl died shortly after being admitted to the hospital, Cambodia's Health Ministry⁴ said in a statement.

Health workers took samples from a dead wild bird found in an area near the girl's home, the ministry said. It said teams in the area would also warn local people about touching⁵ dead and sick birds.

Health Minister Mam Bunheng warned the public that bird flu presents an especially high risk to children who may be working around poultry or collecting eggs from animals.

Signs of H5N1 infection are similar to that of other flus, including cough, body aches and a high temperature. In serious cases, patients can develop life-threatening pneumonia⁶.

Cambodia had 56 human cases of H5N1 from 2003 through 2014. Of those cases, 37 were deadly, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.

Worldwide, about 870 human infections and 457 deaths have been reported to the WHO in 21 countries. But the spreading rate then slowed, with about 170 infections and 50 deaths in the last seven years.

Earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about bird flu infections in other mammals, including minks⁷, otters⁸, foxes and sea lions.

"H5N1 has spread widely in wild birds and poultry for 25 years, but the recent spillover to mammals needs to be monitored closely," he warned.

In January, a 9-year-old girl in Ecuador became the first reported case of human infection in Latin⁹ America and the Caribbean. She was treated with antiviral medicine.

Tedros said earlier this month that the WHO still considers the risk to humans from bird flu quite low. But he warned that this could change in the future and he urged officials in areas of concern to prepare for possible outbreaks.

Tedros advised people not to touch dead or sick wild animals and for countries to strengthen their monitoring efforts in areas where people and animals make contact.

Words in This Story

poultry – n. chickens and other birds that people breed¹⁰ for meat and eggs

sample – n. a small amount of something that shows you what something is like

pneumonia – n. a serious lung sickness that makes it difficult to breathe

mammal – n. an animal that feeds its babies on milk from its body

monitor – v. to watch something carefully and record the results

1 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

2 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

3 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

6 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

7 minks   

n.水貂( mink的名词复数 )；水貂皮

参考例句：

• Fuck like minks, forget the rug rats, and live happily ever after. 我们象水貂一样作爱，忘掉小水貂吧，然后一起幸福生活。 来自互联网
• They fuck like minks, raise rug rats, and live happily ever after. 他们象水貂一样做爱，再养一堆小水貂，然后一起幸福的生活。 来自互联网

8 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网

9 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

10 breed   

n.品种，种类；vi.繁殖，产仔；vt.养殖，产生

参考例句：

• The parents are trying to breed their son a musician.这对父母尽力要把儿子培养成为音乐家。
• This breed of horses is both tall and heavily grown.这种马既高且大。