|
Egypt human bird flu toll rises to 11
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-04-06 16:10
CAIRO - Egypt has found two more people infected with the bird flu virus,
bringing the number of human cases in the country to 11, a government minister
said.
Health and Population Minister Hatem el-Gabali, quoted by the
state MENA news agency late on Wednesday, said the latest cases were a
16-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy from two provinces north of Cairo.
The deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has so far killed two
Egyptians.
"The girl and the boy were infected after coming into contact
with domestic birds which had died, and tests ... confirmed they (the boy and
girl) had been infected with bird flu," Gabali said, adding the two were in a
stable condition.
The government says 11 Egyptians have now been
infected by bird flu. The World Health Organisation has verified that four
Egyptians have caught the deadly H5N1 strain, including the two who died.
Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt confirmed it's ninth case of human bird flu
infection, in a girl aged 16 months from southern Egypt. On Sunday two sisters
were confirmed to have the virus.
The avian flu virus has so far not
been transmitted from human to human, but can be caught from infected birds.
The disease, which has killed at least 108 people worldwide, was first
detected in birds in Egypt in February and has since devastated the poultry
industry.
The government has banned the domestic rearing of fowl. But
many Egyptians are ignoring the ban because they are too poor to slaughter their
birds.
Although difficult for humans to catch, scientists fear bird flu
could mutate into a form that can pass easily between humans, causing a
pandemic.
|
| |
|
| |