28 March 2006
A second Egyptian has died from the avian influenza virus, Egyptian Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali said on Monday.
The death occurred in a 30-year-old woman from the Qaliubiya governorate near Cairo. She developed symptoms on 12 March following the home slaughter of chickens. She was hospitalized on 16 March and died on 27 March.
Tests conducted by the Cairo-based US Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3) have confirmed an additional three cases.
A 32-year-old man, who worked on a farm where poultry were recently culled, developed symptoms on 16 March and was hospitalized the same day. He has since recovered.
A 17-year-old boy, whose father runs a poultry farm in the Gharbiya governorate in the Nile Delta, developed symptoms on 18 March and was hospitalized the following day. He has since recovered.
The fifth case is an 18-year-old girl from the Kafr El-Sheikh governorate. She developed symptoms following the slaughter of sick backyard poultry. She was hospitalized on 25 March.
At present, the Ministry of Health has confirmed all five cases based on results from the NAMRU-3 laboratory. Samples from these cases have been sent to a WHO collaborating laboratory in the United Kingdom for diagnostic verification.
Egypt has a large population of poultry, many of which are kept on roof terraces in close proximity to humans. H5N1 outbreaks in poultry have now been reported in 19 of the country’s 26 governorates. Since the first outbreak was confirmed on 17 February, more than 25 million birds have died or been destroyed.