# 8818
My thanks to Lisa Schnirring for tweeting the link to this latest WHO update, which provides some details on the Egyptian H5N1 case we first heard about nearly 2 weeks ago (see Egypt Reports H5N1 Case). Despite the marked drop in human cases reported out of Egypt over the past 12 months, we continue to see numerous reports of H5N1 in poultry in that region.
New case of avian influenza A(H5N1) in Egypt
8 July 2014 - The Ministry of Health and Population, Egypt recently notified WHO of a new case of human infection from avian influenza A (H5N1).
The case was a 34-year-old male, a construction worker from the Samallot district in the Menia governorate. He developed symptoms on 15 June 2014 in the form of fever, sore throat, cough and difficulty in breathing. He was admitted to hospital on 22 June 2014 after frequent visits to private physicians with no clinical improvement.
Naso-pharyngeal specimens were positive at Menia subnational virology laboratory on 24 June 2014, which was later re-confirmed at the Central Public Health Laboratory in Cairo on 25 June 2014 by RT-PCR. The man was referred to Abbaseya Chest Hospital in Cairo on 25 June 2014 in critical condition and later died on 7 July 2014.
Findings from initial field investigation revealed that the deceased has close contact with sick poultry in a poultry market near his house. Follow up of close contacts of this patient has not revealed any further case with influenza-like symptoms. The local authorities have implemented necessary measures to prevent any further human infection from the poultry market.
Of the 176 cases laboratory-confirmed to date in Egypt, 64 have been fatal (Table 1).
The most recent assessment on the risks of H5N1 from the World Health Organization (as of June 27th, 2014) reads:
Overall public health risk assessment for avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses: Whenever influenza viruses are circulating in poultry, sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases are possible, especially in people exposed to infected poultry or contaminated environments. These influenza A(H5N1) viruses do not currently appear to transmit easily among people. As such, the risk of community-level spread of these viruses remains low.
