Egypt human bird flu infection toll rises to 11

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt has found two more people infected
with the bird flu virus, bringing the number of human cases in
the country to 11, a government minister said.

Health and Population Minister Hatem el-Gabali, quoted by
the state MENA news agency late on Wednesday, said the latest
cases were a 16-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy from two
provinces north of Cairo.

The deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has so far
killed two Egyptians.

“The girl and the boy were infected after coming into
contact with domestic birds which had died, and tests …
confirmed they (the boy and girl) had been infected with bird
flu,” Gabali said, adding the two were in a stable condition.

The government says 11 Egyptians have now been infected by
bird flu. The World Health Organization has verified that four
Egyptians have caught the deadly H5N1 strain, including the two
who died.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt confirmed it’s ninth case of
human bird flu infection, in a girl aged 16 months from
southern Egypt. On Sunday two sisters were confirmed to have
the virus.

The avian flu virus has so far not been transmitted from
human to human, but can be caught from infected birds.

The disease, which has killed at least 108 people
worldwide, was first detected in birds in Egypt in February and
has since devastated the poultry industry.

The government has banned the domestic rearing of fowl. But
many Egyptians are ignoring the ban because they are too poor
to slaughter their birds.

Although difficult for humans to catch, scientists fear
bird flu could mutate into a form that can pass easily between
humans, causing a pandemic.