October 20, 2006

UN praises Cambodia for tackling bird flu

Cambodia received accolades from the United Nations for its rapid action in preventing the spread of bird flu which killed six people in the kingdom.

Various community groups together with support from the government and international organisations took immediate action to check bird flu, said David Nabarro, the UN's senior coordinator on avian influenza.

The official who spent a day in Cambodia reviewed efforts by the government and the UNESCO in educating school children and teachers on detecting and preventing the deadly disease.

The H5N1 bird flu virus crated havoc in the last two months in Cambodia, killing at least six people since 2003. This compares to 17 fatalities in neighbouring Thailand and 55 in Indonesia since the outbreak of the latest bird flu in late 2003.

Nabarro would be visiting Thailand Friday, Oct 20 as part of a tour to review the bird flu situation in the region.