CAIRO: A toddler from Kafr El-Sheikh has contracted bird flu in the country s third reported case in a week, state media reported on Monday.
The 18-month-old girl was in stable condition after being treated with the antiviral drug Tamiflu, the Al-Ahram daily quoted a health ministry official as saying.
It was the 66th recorded case since the outbreak of the disease in Egypt in 2006.
Last week the health ministry said that two women were in critical condition after being infected with the virus.
On Saturday, a 25-year-old woman from the Qalubia province was in hospital in critical condition, the health ministry said. On Wednesday the ministry said a 33-year-old woman from Kafr El-Sheikh had the disease and was critically ill and on an artificial respirator.
Egypt has seen an increase in bird flu cases over the past two months. The World Health Organization (WHO) called in March for an investigation into why many of the victims have been young children.
Twenty-three people have died of bird flu in Egypt, mostly young girls or women who are generally in charge of looking after poultry in rural areas.
Egypt hosted an international conference on bird flu last October, when Washington pledged an additional $320 million to the fight against the disease amid fears that it may yet escalate into a global pandemic.
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
