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An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia who died after being infected with avian influenza A (H5N1) had a different variant from that causing mass deaths in birds globally. The strain she was carrying is endemic to the region, and last infected people in Cambodia about a decade ago. Investigations are under way into why the virus has spilled over from birds to people again. “Hopefully this is an isolated incident, but it could be indicative of a larger issue,” says virologist Erik Karlsson at the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
