GENEVA: An Egyptian toddler has contracted bird flu, the 52nd case to be reported in the country, the World Health Organization said on its website Thursday.
Most of the victims have been young girls or women, who are generally charged with looking after poultry in the countryside, and 23 have died of the disease.
The UN agency, quoting the Egyptian health ministry, said the latest victim was a 22-month-old girl, from Kerdasa district in Sixth of October governorate in northern Egypt, who fell ill on Jan. 9 and was hospitalized the following day.
Investigations into the source of her infection indicate a recent history of contact with sick and dead poultry, the WHO said, adding that her condition was stable.
A 16-year-old Egyptian girl from a village near the central city of Assiut, who died in mid-December, was the most recent fatal case. Egypt has the highest death toll from bird flu outside Asia.
The H5N1 strain of the virus that is most dangerous to humans first emerged in Asia in 2003 and has since caused nearly 250 deaths, according to WHO figures.
Scientists fear that a mutation of the bird flu virus resulting in a strain easily transmitted among humans could create a pandemic, potentially affecting up to one-fifth of the world s population. -AFP
