A six-year-old boy from Kandal’s Kandal Stung district who was confirmed positive for human H5N1 avian influenza on Saturday after coming into contact with sick poultry has recovered, a joint statement from the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The boy – the 17th confirmed case this year – was quickly enrolled in an Acute Febrile Illness Surveillance (FSS) study in Kandal after developing a fever on June 21, Sonny Krishnan, communications officer at the WHO in Cambodia, said.

“Once enrolled in the surveillance study, the boy initially tested positive for influenza A [seasonal influenza],” he said, with the H5N1 diagnosis confirmed after samples were sent to the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge on August 16.

The nation’s 16th case of H5N1, a five-year-old girl also from Kandal province who was in critical condition at Phnom Penh’s Kantha Bopha Hospital last week, has also recovered, the hospital’s Dr Denis Laurent told the Post.

On Sunday, a nine-year-old boy died.