Cambodia reports 4th human H5N1 case this year

Cambodia has reported a new human case of H5N1 bird flu in a woman, the country’s fourth confirmed case so far this year.

Cambodia’s National Institute of Public Health said Tuesday that the patient is a 66-year-old woman from Trapaing Thkov village in Svay Rieng Province, near the border with Vietnam. She has been hospitalized and is receiving intensive care.

Health officials said sick and dead chickens were found both in the woman’s village and at her home, where some of the birds had also been used for cooking.

Officials are collecting samples from people who had contact with the patient, while close contacts are being given Tamiflu as a precaution under Cambodia’s standard response protocol for H5N1 cases.

This is the fourth human case of H5N1 bird flu reported in Cambodia so far in 2026. The country confirmed 19 human cases in 2025, eight of which were fatal.

The previous case was reported in late March in Oddar Meanchey Province, near the border with Thailand, involving a 3-year-old child who was hospitalized in intensive care, according to reports at the time. The child’s current condition is unclear.

It is not yet known which strain was involved in the latest case, though it is likely clade 2.3.2.1c, a variant that is endemic in the country.