The Ministry of Health on Wednesday ordered all clinics nationwide to send patients suspected of carrying the H1N1 flu virus to state hospitals, following the third documented death from the disease Tuesday.
Officials estimate around 120 people have been infected with the virus, sometimes called swine flu.
Sok Touch, director of the Ministry of Health’s communicable disease control department, urged clinics to comply with requests that have already been sent.
“In Cambodia, we are trying our best to prevent an AH1N1 virus epidemic for people’s safety,” he said. “We’re trying to cut short [the life] of the swine flu.”
The disease emerged in Cambodia in June, with a group of US travelers from Thailand, but the disease caused no reported deaths until September. Two deaths were reported this week, including a 25-year-old woman on Tuesday.