CAIRO: Egyptians are heading to hospital fearing they might be the next victim of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu after two human cases were detected in the country, officials said Monday. There are two or three cases of people who came to hospital and tests are underway, said Nasser Kamel, spokesman for the government anti-bird flu committee. But he cautioned that the cases were not yet suspect, stressing that tests were being carried out as a precautionary measure. It s logical that after human cases were announced, people are worried and go to hospital even when they ve just got a normal flu, he said. The H5N1 virus was detected in Egyptian poultry last month and authorities said on Sunday that two human cases had been detected, including that of a woman who died on Friday. An infected man has also been hospitalized after spending time with infected poultry but medics said Sunday he was recovering. Egyptian authorities and a U.S. Naval laboratory in Cairo confirmed the presence of the potentially deadly strain in both cases but samples had been sent to London for further tests by the World Health Organization. The H5N1 strain of bird flu, its most aggressive form, has killed nearly 100 people worldwide, according to the WHO, and seen millions of birds destroyed. Egypt is on a major route for migratory birds, at the crossroads between Asia and Africa. An outbreak of the most pathogenic strain of the virus that originated in Asia was seen as inevitable after seven birds were found infected in February. AFP
Worried Egyptians head to hospital for bird flu tests
