Cambodia has reported a new human case of H5N1 avian influenza, marking the second confirmed infection in the country so far this year.

The National Institute of Public Health confirmed the case Saturday in a 45-year-old woman from Ropai Village in Banteay Meanchey Province near the border with Thailand. Health officials said the woman was hospitalized and is currently under close medical care.

According to investigators, the patient raised chickens and ducks and had handled some birds that later died. Authorities also reported deaths among poultry in the village around the time of her illness.

Health teams have begun collecting samples from individuals who had contact with the woman as part of containment efforts. Close contacts are being treated with the antiviral medication Tamiflu as a precaution, which is standard protocol in Cambodia following H5N1 detections.

The latest infection is the second confirmed human case of the virus reported in Cambodia in 2026. In 2025, the country recorded 19 human infections, eight of which were fatal.

The first case reported this year occurred in Kampot Province near the Vietnam border. That patient, a man who had handled and cooked a dead chicken, later recovered and was released from the hospital.

Officials have not yet confirmed which strain caused the latest infection, though authorities say it is likely clade 2.3.2.1c, a variant considered endemic in Cambodia.

Another strain, clade 2.3.4.4b, has drawn increased global attention since 2022 because of its rapid international spread and a rising number of infections among mammals, including occasional human cases.