# 1447
Reports out of Egypt the past 72 hours have been a muddled mess.
Local media reports indicate a growing list of suspected bird flu cases entering hospitals while thus far, there has been little in the way of official comment.
Only a handful of specific patients have been declared `negative' by official sources, leaving scores of cases in doubt.
It would be wrong, however, to assume all of these suspect cases are really bird flu cases. Following the deaths of four women last week public concerns are running high, and right now probably any `flu-like' illness is suspected of being bird flu.
Unless there's been a fundamental change in the virus, in all likelihood most of these cases will turn out to be seasonal influenza or some other common respiratory infection.
With that caveat in place, this next report comes from algomhuria.net, and appears to detail 5 new suspect cases.
A hat tip to Theresa42 on Flutrackers for this (and a ton of other) translation.
Five new suspected cases -- 2 in Menoufia, 2 in Qena, and 1 in Beheira.
Google-translated from Arabic:
Hotbeds of new avian influenza .. In Menoufiya, Qena and the lake[Beheira]
Detain children 3 "babies" hospital .. On suspicion of injury
Almost no day passes until a new hotbed of bird flu in the provinces.
Jan 6, 2008
Menoufiya - Razek emerged:
Detained Hospital Dietetic Shebin Mound both bacterial Abdullah morning from "Abussnith" Balbageor and Naglaa Mohammad Saeedi of Shebin Mound on suspicion of bird flu disease injured.
For his. Hisham Atta Undersecretary of the Italian [Menoufian] Ministry of Health had been taking a sample of ladies for analysis.
Detained Hospital Dietetic Qena babies Mustafa Omar, Omar Khaled injured on suspicion of avian influenza because of bronchitis and a high temperature.
Discovered fight death squads 5 birds and 25 chickens execution and finding a house and focus Q. Mustafa village Alsemsta career.
Lake [Beheira] - Karem Guentoc:
Detained Hospital Dietetic Damanhour child Hisham Amr Pasha 3 years and evaluates the village Asmania Baetay gunpowder on suspicion of being infected with avian influenza have acquired because of the birds and found his sudden rise in temperature, red face and throat were narrow sampling of children and birds contact him and sent to central laboratories for analysis.
Although not addressing specific cases, this next article, which appeared in today's massai.ahram.org, seems to indicate a lot of negative tests have come back.
While we shouldn't let down our guard, this does appear to be a hopeful sign.
A hat tip to Henry Niman on Flutrackers for this translation (re-paragraphed for readability).
Panic in the face of battle bird flu:
Analyses samples suspicion stresses free of the virus: Mohamed Al-Hassan:
While the increase in the state of panic that control most provinces by fears of bird flu, confirmed reports of tests that have been conducted central labs of the Ministry of Health that the results of the samples were taken from patients under suspicion provinces of Cairo, Giza, Sohag and Eastern Qalubia, came negative and free of the virus that causes avian influenza.
comes at a time when continued organs of the Ministries of Health and Agriculture in cooperation with the security implementation of the decisions of the Supreme Ministerial Committee to combat the disease on birds in a poultry farm proves the existence of cases of HIV positive, no matter what the number of birds .
official source said that the execution of more than 500 thousand chickens are safe and healthy in a farm entrance after that proved positive samples were taken from the farm birds to the virus causing the disease.
Hopefully we'll get some definitive answers over the next day or two about the test status of these suspect cases. Until then, you can rest assured that the newshounds will watch these suspect cases closely.
