Egyptian woman dies of bird flu, Israel culls fowl

By Mohammed Abbas

CAIRO (Reuters) – A 30-year-old Egyptian woman has died of
bird flu, becoming the country’s first human victim of the
virus, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

It said the woman from Qaloubiyah province, about 40 km (25
miles) north of Cairo, where the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain
has been detected in poultry, was taken ill on Wednesday.

“They (doctors) took samples for analysis at the Ministry
of Health laboratories … They confirmed she was infected with
bird flu. She died on Friday morning,” a ministry statement
said, adding the woman had been given Tamiflu, a drug used to
treat suspected cases of bird flu.

Israel said on Saturday that four poultry workers suspected
of having bird flu had tested negative for the virus, after the
country detected its first cases of H5N1 in birds on Friday.

Bird flu has spread across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia
and killed at least 98 people worldwide since 2003.

Although hard to catch, people can contract bird flu after
coming into contact with infected birds. Scientists fear the
virus could mutate into a form that could pass easily between
humans, triggering a pandemic in which millions could die.

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that Egypt
had reported its first human case of bird flu.

Dr Hassan al-Bushra, WHO’s regional adviser for
communicable diseases surveillance, said the H5N1 bird flu
virus had been found in a blood sample taken from the woman,
and that other samples were being tested for further
confirmation.

Egypt reported its first cases of bird flu in poultry
flocks last month. Media and state reports say H5N1 has now
been detected in at least 17 of Egypt’s 26 governorates and the
city of Luxor.

Egyptian farmers say the poultry market — worth about 17
billion Egyptian pounds ($3 billion dollars) and supporting up
to 3 million people — has been devastated.

ISRAEL CULLS POULTRY

Israeli workers culled thousands of turkeys and chickens
but authorities said further tests were needed to confirm
whether an outbreak on two farms was of the deadly H5N1 strain
of bird flu. The Health Ministry said four people who had been
suspected of having bird flu had tested negative.

Israeli officials said poultry in the infected areas and
their surroundings would be culled and the carcasses buried in
underground pits.

In a rare act of cooperation, Israel was also testing dead
fowl found in the West Bank and Gaza on behalf of the
Palestinian Authority.

Serbia on Friday said three children and a teenager from a
bird flu-affected area were in hospital after developing fever
and flu-like symptoms.

Three women who died in Azerbaijan are also thought to be
bird flu victims, but the WHO is awaiting the results of
further tests before confirming the cause of death.

Bird flu has shaken poultry markets around the world as
consumers have lost their appetites for chicken, with some
countries reporting a drop in sales of up to 70 percent.

The EU banned poultry imports from Israel, the EU’s
executive Commission said.