Egypt confirms first bird flu human death
An Egyptian woman has died of bird flu, the country’s first human victim of the virus, Egypt’s health ministry said on Saturday.
It said a 30-year-old woman from Qaloubiyah province, about 40 kms (25 miles) north of Cairo, was taken ill on Wednesday.
“They (doctors) took samples for analysis at the ministry of health laboratories ... They confirmed she was infected with bird flu. She died on Friday morning,” a health ministry statement said, adding the woman had been given Tamiflu, a drug used to treat suspected cases of bird flu.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that Egypt had reported its first human case of bird flu. “It was confirmed last night and reported officially this morning,” said Dr Hassan al-Bushra, WHO’s regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance.
Egypt reported cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry flocks last month.