The decision comes in response to an alert from that city’s Pasteur Institute after it learned of the death of a minor under the age of 11 as a result of the disease in a Cambodian province bordering Vietnam, he explained.
The surveillance system for early detection of possible suspected infection with the H5N1 subtype of influenza A virus, he said, focuses on any respiratory disease groups in the community or those with severe respiratory infections with a history of contact with enclosure birds.
He also announced that in all cases of severe pneumonia of unknown cause, samples will be taken for diagnostic testing, while inspection at farms and wholesale poultry markets, slaughter units and border crossings, among others, will be intensified.
On February 21, an 11-year-old girl who was diagnosed with bird flu died in a village in Cambodia’s Prey Veng province.
Authorities in the neighboring state said Tuesday the situation is under control and Health Ministry researchers have taken samples from 16 people who had direct contact with the dead minor and her father, as well as 13 other residents in the area with symptoms similar to those of the flu all were negative.
jf/mpm