Saturday, July 24, 2010

Egypt Announces 110th Bird Flu Case

 

 

# 4752

 

 

Egypt hasn’t reported a human infection with the H5N1 virus since last April (see Egypt Reports 109th Bird Flu Case), but today KUNA – the Kuwait News Agency - is reporting on a 20-year old woman in critical condition from bird flu in Cairo.

 

 

Egypt announces 110th discovered bird flu case

Health    7/24/2010 9:49:00 PM

CAIRO, July 24 (KUNA) -- Egypt on Saturday announced the 110th discovered bird flu case in the country, saying the patient's condition is "critical".

 

"The 20-year-old female was transferred to Sadr al-Abbasiya Hospital in Cairo, as she was suffering from high temperature and breathing difficulties," Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Abdulrahman Shahin told reporters.

 

The patient has been medicated with Tamiflu and is still under supervision, he noted.

 

Egypt had taken preventive measures to contain the pandemic since its outbreak in 2006, including restraints on mobilizing live birds between provinces, as well as banning the slaughtering of birds outside allocated locations among other precautions. (end) 

 

Sporadic human infections with the virus continue to occur in regions where the virus is endemic.  Human-to-human transmission remains rare, however, as the virus has not adapted well to humans. 

 

On Thursday of this week, the Eurosurveillance Journal gave us an overview of the spread of H5N1 in humans (see Eurosurveillance: 500 H5N1 Cases After 6 1/2 Years).

 

The author’s conclusion was that while the number of cases reported has dropped, the overall situation has not improved appreciably since the virus re-emerged in 2003.

 

The threat of the virus someday adapting to humans remains.