A toddler has become the 18th confirmed case of avian influenza this year, the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization announced yesterday.

The 15-month-old from Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district developed a fever on August 16 and a week later was transferred from private care to Kantha Bopha hospital. On Friday, lab results confirmed he had contracted H5N1.

According to the statement issued yesterday, the boy remains in stable condition after having been treated with Tamiflu on August 27.

Though only 39 people have contracted H5N1 in Cambodia since the virus was first detected in 2004, it has proven highly fatal. Of the 18 people to contract the virus so far this year, 12 have died.

The Health Ministry is conducting investigations and public health lessons in the boy’s home village, and urged people to “take special care’’ that their children avoid contact with birds and with areas where they are kept.