March 15, 2007

Girl becomes Egypt's 25th case with deadly bird flu strain
 

An Egyptian girl has contracted the potentially deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, bringing to 25 the number of people to be diagnosed with the disease since it appeared in the country last year, the state-run news agency reported.

10-year-old Amira Abdel Latif Nayal from the southern city of Aswan was admitted to a hospital there on Tuesday, suffering from fever and muscle pain, health ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shine told the Middle East News Agency.

Nayal tested positive for the H5N1 strain, MENA said but gave no details on how the girl contracted the virus.

Of the 25 Egyptians who contracted bird flu since last February, 13 died. Most of the infected have been women or girls, who normally tend to look after chickens and turkeys kept in the backyards of Egyptian homes.

Since the outbreak of bird flu last year, Egypt has been one of the worst-affected countries outside Asia, where the disease originated. It lies on a main route for migratory birds, which are believed to have brought the disease from Asia.

The World Health Organization has reported that mutations were found in two fatalities in Egypt. In those cases, the virus had mutated to a form that could be resistant to the drug Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, the most common medication of choice for treating human bird flu cases.

While the mutations were not drastic enough to spark a pandemic, more mutations could prompt scientists to rethink current treatment strategies, WHO has said.

The H5N1 strain has killed at least 168 people worldwide since 2003. Health officials worldwide worry the bird flu strain could mutate into a form which easily spreads from person to person, sparking a pandemic.