Back on January 28, I posted Cambodia: A rough chronology of the H5N1 outbreak. Here it is, with additional data to fill in the older cases and add the newer cases:
January 8: An 8-month-old boy shows the first symptoms of H5N1 in Chrey Korng village, Phnom Penh. This seems to be part of the metropolitan region, with several good hotels.
January 9: The boy goes to the National Pediatric Hospital. He's tested and confirmed as H5N1 on January 22 (2nd case). He is reported recovered in the January 25 news reports that break the story.
January 11: A 15-year-old girl in Snao village, Takeo province, falls ill. This province is south of Phnom Penh and on the border with Vietnam. I can't find the precise location of the village.
January 13: A 35-year-old man falls ill in Trapeang Sla, Kampong Speu province, west of Phnom Penh. A 17-month-old girl (4th case), also in Kampong Speu, shows symptoms.
January 17: The 15-year-old girl enters Kantha Bopha Hospital. So does the 17-month-old.
January 19: A 9-year-old girl in Thmei commune, Kampot province, shows symptoms.
January 21: The 35-year-old man admitted to Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh. Samples are taken; he dies soon after. The 15-year-old girl also dies on this day.
January 25: A 5-year-old girl from Prey Kabass commune, Takeo province, falls ill.
January 26: 17-month-old girl in Kampong Speu province diagnosed with H5N1.
January 27: The 9-year-old from Kampot is admitted to Kantha Bopha.
January 28: The 17-month-old girl dies in Kantha Bopha. So does the 9-year-old girl from Kampot.
January 31: The 5-year-old girl from Prey Kabass is admitted to Kantha Bopha after several days of private treatment.
February 3: A 3-year-old girl from Ang Phnom Toch commune, Kampot province, develops a red rash
February 6: The 3-year-old girl is admitted to Kantha Bopha with fever, abdominal pain, and somnolence. She is the 7th case this year.
February 7: The 5-year-old girl from Prey Kabass dies in Kantha Bopha.
February 13: The 3-year-old dies in Kantha Bopha.That, roughly, is what I can piece together from the ministry's news releases. I feel so sorry for the families, and for the staff at Kantha Bopha. They had a terrible time last year with what Dr. Beat Richner called hemorrhagic dengue, and now this. I hope other countries will send in doctors and nurses (and equipment)—not only to help Dr. Richner's people, but to study the outbreak face to face.
