If you want to know how the world is preparing for the next global pandemic, look at Rolaing, a Cambodian village located on a tributary of the Mekong River. For a few days in February this isolated spot became a hive of public health activity after an 11-year-old girl died of H5N1, the most virulent strain of bird flu — the country’s first fatality from the disease since 2014.
A rapid response team of local health workers was dispatched within hours to the village, a two hour drive from the capital Phnom Penh. They found a community of almost 2,000 people living in brightly colored wooden and sheet metal homes, close to their livestock and chickens.
In the space of just 24 hours they set up a makeshift testing center, identified a dozen of the girl’s closest contacts, took swabs and scoured for the pathogen. Her father tested positive. He was treated with anti-virals and recovered. At least 11 others, including close relatives she lived with, were found to be infection-free.
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