Authorities in Egypt have confirmed that a fourth human is infected with bird flu (H5N1). So far, two of them have died.
A 30-year-old woman from the Qaliubiya governorate near Cairo has died. She developed bird flu like symptoms on March 12, was hospitalised on March 16 and died on March 27. The woman had been slaughtering chickens at home.
Another 30-year-old woman, also from Qaliubiya, died on March 17.
Tests were conducted at the Cairo-based US Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3) and confirmed at laboratories in Kent, England.
A 32-year-old man became ill on March 16, but has since recovered. He worked on a farm where infected poultry had recently been culled.
A 17-year-old boy became ill on March18, he has since recovered. His father runs a poultry farm in the Gharbiya governorate in the Nile Delta.
An 18-year-old girl from the Kafr El-Sheikh governorate became ill and was hospitalised on March 25. She had been slaughtering sick chickens in her backyard.
Of the five cases diagnosed at the NAMRU-3 labs, four have been confirmed at the laboratories in England.
350 people who had had contacts with these patients have been screened – all tests have come back negative for H5N1 infection.
H5N1 outbreaks (in poultry) have been reported in 19 of Egypt’s 26 governates. Over 25 million birds in Egypt have been destroyed since February 17, 2006.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today