Egypt reports fresh bird flu infection among poultry
12/11/2006 11:15
The Egyptian Health Ministry said yesterday that new infection of the
deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus among domestic fowls was discovered in
Luxor, some 680 km south of Cairo, the official news agency MENA
reported.
Tests on domestic birds at the city's Najaa al-Abayda Lab turned up
positive for the deadly H5N1 virus, said the ministry's spokesman Abdel-Rahman
Shahin.
The area has been quarantined, the birds are being culled and those
suspected to have come in close contact with the fowls have been under
examination, said Shahin.
On Oct. 30, an Egyptian woman died of bird flu
virus and became the country's seventh fatal human case of the disease.
Egypt
found the first bird flu case in dead poultry on Feb. 17, and then the virus
spread to 20 governorates of the country's 26 in total.
Egypt reported the
first human bird flu case on March 18. Since then, it has detected 14 human
cases with the last case reported on May 18. Of the 14, six died while the rest
recovered.
Xinhua News
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