Bird flu kills 11-year-old girl in Cambodia, officials say

An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died from bird flu in the country's first known human H5N1 infection since 2014. The girl from the rural southeastern province of Prey Veng became ill Feb. 16 and was sent to be treated at hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh.

She was diagnosed Wednesday after suffering a fever up to 39 Celsius with coughing and throat pain and died shortly afterward. Cambodian Health Minister warned that bird flu poses an especially high risk to children. Symptoms of H5N1 infection are similar to that of other flus, including cough, aches and fever, and in serious cases, patients can develop life-threatening pneumonia.