Fifth suspected case found of bird flu in humans

CAIRO: Egypt said Monday a teenager hospitalized in the Nile delta governorate of Kafr Al-Sheikh with bird flu symptoms could be the fifth person in the country infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus. The 18-year-old girl was in stable condition, Nasser Kamel, spokesman for the government s anti-bird flu committee, told AFP. He added that further tests were still being carried out to determine if her symptoms proved a bird flu infection in the province north of Egypt. Egypt has already confirmed four human cases of the deadly virus. The only fatal victim so far has been Amal Mohammed Ismail, from the Qalyoubiya governorate, just north of Cairo. The other three people infected are no longer in danger; only one of them remains hospitalized. Nineteen of Egypt s 26 governorates (provinces) have now been affected by bird flu after the virus spread to Mediterranean seaside province of Kafr Al-Sheikh over the weekend. The H5N1 strain of bird flu, its most aggressive form, has killed nearly 100 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and seen millions of birds slaughtered. Egypt is on a major route for migratory birds, at the crossroads between Asia and Africa. AFP