Djibouti confirms one human H5N1 bird flu case (Horn of Africa)

DJIBOUTI, May 11 - Djibouti said on Thursday that one person had tested positive for the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus in the first confirmed human case in the Horn of Africa.

“One patient and three domestic chickens have been detected with the H5N1 virus,” Health Minister Abdallah Abdillahi Miguil said in remarks broadcast on state television.

The U.N. World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva confirmed the human case.

“There is a two-year-old girl who has been infected with H5N1. She is alive,” WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said.

The tiny country of 300,000 at the mouth of the Red Sea is along the path of migratory birds who have been detected with the deadly strain.

The condition of the girl, who the minister said was still in hospital, was not immediately known.

Sources used in this Avian influenza story:

Reuters Alertnet

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