Cambodian ostracised for reporting bird flu

TOUL PREK, Cambodia, Apr 12 (Reuters) When her 3-year-old daughter died of bird flu, Choeun Sok Ny expected sympathy from fellow villagers in Cambodia. All she got was abuse after the death drew government culling teams but no compensation.

''Our neighbours are unhappy with us because they lost all their chickens and ducks after my daughter died,'' the 23-year-old said, clutching a photo album of her daughter, Mon Puthy, who became Cambodia's fifth bird flu victim last month.

''They should care about their lives more than their chickens. But they don't,'' she said, the tears rolling down her cheeks as she explained the local backlash that epitomises the problems of bird flu monitoring in the poorest corners of the globe.

If governments in countries like Cambodia, where most people have to get by on a dollar a day, do not compensate properly for poultry lost in anti-bird flu culls, villagers will do all they can to ensure possible outbreaks are covered up.

''Next time, they won't be able to just come and cull my chickens if compensation is not settled first,'' said angry 28-year-old Duch Yoeum, who lost 50 birds in the cull around Toul Prek, a dusty village 50 km west of Phnom Penh.

''I used to sell my chickens for about two dollars each, but now I have nothing to sell,'' he said, standing next to an empty bamboo cage.

''That girl's death had nothing to do with my chickens. If I am allowed to raise chickens again, I won't bother to tell them when my chickens get sick,'' he said.

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