Measles Back From Elimination İn Cambodia

The first case of the measles virus in Cambodia since 2011 has been recorded in a rural province, the country's Health Ministry, Unicef and the World Health Organization announced Thursday.



The groups said in a statement that lab tests carried out on tissue samples confirmed presence of the highly contagious virus Oct. 4, after which Health Minister Dr Mam Bunheng "convened an urgent meeting and dispatched two teams" to Kratie and Kompong Thom provinces, where another suspected case was found but ruled out.



WHO immunisation program technical officer Dr. Shafiqul Hossain told Anadolu Agency by telephone Thursday that the patient is a 13-year-old boy who is doing "fine" at the provincial hospital in Kratie, in Cambodia's east.



In response to the new case, and in a bid to stave off further spread of the virus, the ministry plans to roll out an emergency vaccination program, which Hossain said would be aimed primarily at 9-to15-year-olds, starting Oct. 20.



"We are taking all necessary measures, including emergency vaccination campaigns, to stop the transmission of the measles virus to protect the population of Cambodia," Bunheng said in the statement.



The campaign follows an initial investigation carried out in the province to identify where vaccinations would be most needed, and to ensure that they would be effective and of good quality, Hossain told AA.



It will also come after the annual Pchum Ben religious festival, which culminates next week, and usually sees many people travelling around the country to celebrate with family.



Measles is a highly contagious virus and, according to WHO, one of the leading causes of death among young, unvaccinated children. The WHO website's fact sheet on the virus says that 145,700 people died from measles in 2013.



In an email to Anadolu Agency on Thursday evening, Unicef Cambodia's chief of communications, Iman Morooka, said that because it can be fatal for children, "ensuring high coverage of vaccination is extremely important."



Until now, Cambodia has been free of the virus, with the last known case recorded in Nov. 2011. In March of this year, Cambodia received certification from WHO on its elimination of measles.



It is not yet known how this case was contracted, and investigations are continuing. However, it was detected "as part of the ongoing routine surveillance"



Professor Chan Soeung Sann, director of the National Immunization Program, referred questions to his deputy, Ork Vichit, who could not be reached.



Cambodia has experienced two significant health scare outbreaks over the past few years.



In 2012, a severe strain of hand, foot and mouth disease called by Enterovirus-71 killed more than 60 children. Schools were shut down in a bid to stop it spreading, and the health ministry urged people to be vigilant about hygiene and hand-washing.



Between 2013 and 2014, a strain of the avian influenza virus known as H5N1 killed 12 and 9 people, respectively, in what was one of the worst outbreaks of the virus anywhere in the world. - Phnum Penh