"We are really worried about the situation because in just two months we have nine cases of bird flu," Ly Sovann told AFP.
Eight of the nine people died, along with thousands of birds in the villages where the victims lived.
"There was a lot of dead poultry, but the people did not report to (officials). In the villages that I went to, almost all poultry had died," Ly Sovann said, adding it took up to a month for officials to be told of poultry deaths in some areas.
The health ministry has enhanced surveillance to try to detect and treat avian influenza cases in the early stages, he said.
"We are also worried about (possible) human-to-human transmission of bird flu, but it is not the case now," said Ly Sovann.
He urged villagers immediately to report dead poultry and not to touch or eat the birds.
Sonny Krishnan, communications officer with the World Health Organisation in Cambodia, said it was keeping "a close watch" on the situation. "The disease is still of limited transmittability from poultry to humans," he said. http://www.rappler.com/world/22659-bird-flu-epidemic-in-cambodia
