Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Egypt Reports 61st Human Bird Flu Infection

 

# 2964

 

 

For the 10th time thus far in 2009, Egypt has announced another human H5N1 infection – this time of a 2-year-old boy from the province  of Beheira in northern Egypt.

 

In 2008 Egypt only reported a total of 8 human cases for the entire year. This makes the 6th reported human case out of Egypt since March the 1st.  

 

This report from Reuters.

 

Egyptian boy contracts bird flu virus – agency

01 Apr 2009 17:48:38 GMT

Source: Reuters

CAIRO, April 1 (Reuters) - A two-year-old Egyptian boy has contracted the highly pathogenic bird flu virus, bringing to 61 the number of confirmed cases in the most populous Arab country, state news agency MENA said on Wednesday.

 

Egypt, hit harder by bird flu than any other country outside of Asia, has seen an upswing in bird flu cases over the past month, with six new human infections.

 

The boy, from the province of Beheira in northern Egypt, was believed to have contracted the H5N1 virus after coming into contact with infected birds, MENA quoted health ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahine as saying.

 

The boy was taken to hospital on Monday after he came down with a high fever while visiting extended family in another province. He was being treated with the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

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