Cambodia confirms bird flu

Phnom Penh - Cambodia has confirmed its second outbreak of bird flu this year, in the same province where the H5N1 virus is suspected to have killed a boy in April.

The virus was found in more than 1 300 ducks that died in Prey Veng province, 70km southeast of the capital Phnom Penh.

Officials said there were no immediate reports of human infections.

"Yes, bird flu is back," said senior agriculture ministry official Nou Muth on Saturday. "We have announced this outbreak to alert villagers not to handle dead poultry."

Most of the more than 130 people killed by the H5N1 virus, including six in Cambodia, contracted the disease through close proximity to infected birds.

"Bird flu is still the hot issue for us. We are still worrying villagers in the affected might have been selling their chickens or ducks to others secretly," said Nou Muth.

Several hundred domestic ducks had been culled within a 3km radius of the outbreak, said agriculture official Yim Vanthan.

Neighbouring Thailand reported its first outbreak of the virus in eight months in July. Laos, which has a long border with Cambodia, also reported an outbreak last month.

- Reuters