Egypt confirms 66TH Human case of Bird Flu

Egypt confirms 66TH Human case of Bird Flu

CAIRO - An 18-month old Egyptian girl has contracted the highly pathogenic bird flu virus after coming into contact with infected birds, the latest case in a growing spate of infections in Egypt, state media said on Sunday.

The new infection brings to 66 the number of bird flu cases in humans in the most populous Arab country, which has been hit harder by bird flu than any other country outside Asia.

Egypt has seen a surge in human cases in recent months, with 15 confirmed since the start of the year, compared to seven cases between Jan. 1 and April 17 last year.

The girl, from the north Egyptian province of Kafr el-Sheikh, was being treated with the antiviral drug Tamiflu, state news agency MENA reported, citing the health ministry.

While the H5N1 avian influenza virus rarely infects people, experts say they fear it could mutate into a form that people could easily pass to one another, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.

Since 2003, H5N1 has infected at least 412 people in 15 countries and killed 254. It has killed or forced the culling of more than 300 million birds in 61 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Some 23 Egyptians have died after contracting the bird flu virus. Most of those infected had come into contact with infected domestic birds in a country where roughly 5 million households depend on domestically raised poultry as a significant source of food and income.

The World Health Organisation said this month it was concerned some Egyptians may carry the bird flu virus without showing symptoms and this could give the virus more of a chance to mutate to a strain that spreads easily among humans.