Avian Influenza Prevention in Cambodia: Community Forums

By Tongngy Kaing

April 17, 2012

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Experts from the veterinary district office and an official - Dr. Sok Sary - from the Ministry of Health in Phnom Penh attended each forum as guest speakers. The vet demonstrated how H5N1 contaminates poultry and Dr. Sary explained how the virus affects humans.

Figure 10: "Playing with paper or plastic birds can't affect H5N1," Dr. Sok Sary of MoH said.

Figure 11: To cheer up the participants, Dr. Sary told a joke which made everyone laugh. Some villagers called him Dr. Comedian.

Figure 12: "Are you ready for Q&A?" Chanthol of FAO asked participants.

Figure 13: Dr. Son San of NaVRI and Banteay Meas district governor also were guests at the forum.

Figure 14: A vet from Thmor Kol district presented how H5N1 spreads from one bird to another.

Figure 15: Village vets and health workers were introduced to the public. "If you see any suspect cases of AI, please report to us," the blue shirt vet said.

To humanize the topic, one of the two Avian Influenza survivors in Cambodia, Mr. Keng Sopheak, also spoke at the forums. He is one of the 20 human cases reported in the kingdom, and shared his experience on how he got the virus and how he could survive the killer disease.

"My aunt was a district health worker, and when I was sick she understood the symptoms because she used to join a bird flu training. She then quickly sent me to Calmet Hospital. Then I knew nothing until 20 days later," Sopheak said in the forum in Kandal while the crowd listened to him in silence.

Figure 16: Dr. Sok Sary of MoH described how he saved Sopheak in 2008, and how H5N1 developed in Sopheak's body.

Figure 17: Sopheak became a popular star among the audience. When he was sharing his experience, everyone listened to him carefully and quietly.

Figure 18: "I was lucky to be alive because my aunt who is a health worker used to learned about Bird Flu," said Sopheak, one of the two Cambodian AI survivors.

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