Girl dies from bird flu; Asia toll now 51

Girl dies from bird flu; Asia toll now 51

PHNOM PENH: An eight-year-old Cambodian girl has died of bird
flu, the 51st known victim of the deadly virus since it swept
across Asia at the end of 2003.

Health officials said on Sunday the girl was from the same
province as the two other Cambodian victims, Kampot, on the
border with Vietnam which has been hit worst by the H5N1 virus
with 36 victims.

Twelve Thais have also died of the virus, which the World
Health Organisation says has the potential to mutate into a form
that could pass easily between humans and cause a pandemic in
which millions of people could die.

The girl died in a Phnom Penh hospital on Thursday night and
laboratory tests confirmed she had bird flu the following day,
the health officials said. --Reuters