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As often is the case, the six people that had been hospitalized with bird flu symptoms in Egypt have been declared free of the infection. There is a nasty version of seasonal flu spreading across the mid-east, and anyone with contact with poultry, and flu symptoms, is automatically suspect.
Six suspect cases cleared of human bird flu in Egypt
Sun Feb 11, 9:34 AM ET
CAIRO (AFP) - Six Egyptians suspected of contracting bird flu have tested negative for the deadly virus, the health ministry said, amid fears of a global surge in infections.
"The six suspected cases admitted to the hospital all tested negative for the H5N1 virus," ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shaheen told AFP Sunday.
The six, including a three-year-old girl and a 24-year-old woman in critical condition, were from villages around the oasis town of Fayyum south of Cairo, the home of the last person to die from the virus in Egypt.
Shaheen said suspected cases have been fairly frequent in Egypt since the virus first appeared in March 2006.
"Out of 2,292 suspected cases, we have had 20 real cases and all the rest were negative," he said, adding that people hospitalized with flu-like symptoms who have regular contact with poultry are considered suspect cases.
