Cambodia has confirmed its fourth H5N1 avian flu case this year. The latest case is a 16-year-old boy from Kratie province. The boy showed no respiratory symptoms, and the health ministry did not share further details. The ministry is monitoring those who had contact with the boy and has given oseltamivir to those close to confirmed cases. The boy’s younger brother had also contracted the virus and later died. The family had reported poultry deaths and admitted to eating the dead birds. Since 2023, Cambodia has reported 10 human H5N1 cases, indicating an increase after a ten-year gap.
The H5N1 cases in Cambodia are linked to an older H5N1 clade (2.3.2.1c) found in the country’s poultry. This clade differs from the newer H5N1 clade (2.3.4.4b) found in wild birds and poultry worldwide, with occasional detections in mammals and humans.
In other news, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is tracking a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, BA.2.87.1, from South Africa. This variant has mutations that could potentially evade the immune system, but it is not yet spreading widely. South African scientists have found nine BA.2.87.1 sequences in samples collected from September to December 2023. No cases have been reported outside South Africa.