Health minister warns of winter bird flu upsurge

CAIRO: Health Minister Hatem Al-Gabali said Tuesday he feared a fresh spate of human bird flu cases in the coming weeks. Bird flu is still present and we will witness new cases this winter. We just hope they won t be fatal, he told parliament. The population still refrains from informing the authorities when poultry is infected, especially in domestic rearings, he added. Health officials announced last week that the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu had been detected in a 39-year-old woman from the northern Delta province of Al-Gharbiya. Al-Gabali said her condition was stable. Her infection brought to 15 the number of human bird flu cases since the virus was first detected in February in Egypt. Six cases turned out to be fatal and eight people recovered after being treated with Tamiflu, making Egypt – which is located on a major route for migratory birds – the hardest-hit non-Asian country in the world. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 151 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.