PARIS: The World Health Organiza­tion said on Friday that increasing reports of the H5N1 avian flu among humans were “worrying” following the death of an infected 11-year-old Cambodian girl.

The girl’s father has also tested positive for the virus, according to Cambodia’s health ministry, prompting fears that the virus could have been transmitted between humans.

Sylvie Briand, WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director, said the UN agency was in close contact with the Cambodian authorities about the case as well as the tests of other people who had been in contact with the girl. “So far, it is too early to know if it’s human to human transmission or exposure to the same environmental conditions,” Briand told a virtual press conference held in Geneva.

For the rare cases when humans contract the disease, it is usually because they have come in direct contact with infected birds. Since late 2021, one of the worst global outbreaks of bird flu has led to millions of poultry being culled, mass wild bird deaths, and the virus being detected in a growing range of mammals.

“The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the wide spread of the virus in birds around the world, and the increasing reports of cases in mammals including humans,” Briand said.

“WHO takes the risk from this virus seriously and urges heightened vigilance from all countries.” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said earlier this month that the risk of bird flu to humans was low, and Briand emphasised that this assessment had not changed.

She said that the WHO was waiting for test results to establish whether the Cambodian girl’s contact cases were also infected.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2023