# 8785
Although we saw a couple of media reports over the winter and spring on suspected H5N1 cases in Egypt ( here and here), it has been well over a year since the last official H5N1 case was reported from Egypt. (see correction below).
My thanks to Sharon Sanders for correcting my faulty memory by pointing out that two cases were confirmed in March, 2014. (WHO report)
We have seen ongoing reports of outbreaks in poultry, however, and so we know the virus continues to circulate widely.
Egypt’s Ministry of Health Website is off line (and has been the last few times I’ve tried to access it), but local media is reporting that the MOH has announced the first case since 2013.
This English translation from MENA, the Middle East News Agency of the original Arabic report from http://www.masrawy.com:
Health Ministry: Man catches bird flu in Minya
Thu, 26/06/2014 - 12:42
The Ministry of Health and Population announced that a 34-year-old man in Minya has been inflected with the A/H5N1 virus known as bird fllu.
It added the patient was currently on a ventilator at hospital and his condition was unstable.
The ministry said in a statement on Wednesday evening that it has taken preventive measures once the case was suspected and isolated the patient in Minya Fever Hospital. A sample for the patient was sent to Cairo labs for analysis and his infection with bird flu was confirmed according to results.
A team from the Preventive Medicine Sector was dispatched to the patient's residence in Minya, the statement said. His wife and children were inspected and they are in good health and have no bird flu symptoms, according to the statement. They will be reinspected after 10 days, it added.
After peaking in 2011 (39 cases, 15 deaths), the number of H5N1 cases reported out of Egypt has dropped markedly, with only 4 cases (3 deaths) reported in 2013.
When confirmed by the WHO, today’s case should bring that nation’s official total to 176 cases.
Reporting, both by the government and by the media, has been highly constrained since the `Arab Spring’ revolution which began in 2011, and so there are concerns as to just how good the surveillance and reporting coming out of Egypt on H5N1 (and other health issues) really is.
