The number of human cases which have been isolated in all hospitals after being infected with bird flu since entering Egypt in Feb 2006 has increased to 5800, an official report by the Ministry of Health said. The report has pointed to the isolation of more than 2000 suspected cases in hospitals compared to the corresponding period last year.
The cases that have been proven to be infected with the disease reached 53 patients in 17 provinces, namely Cairo, Qalioubia, Sharqia, Menoufia, Dakahlia, Behaira, Kafr El Sheikh, Damietta, Fayyoum, Beni Suef, Menya, Assiut, Suhag, Qena and Aswan, the report of which Al-Masry Al-Youm got a copy said. The number of deaths from the disease has reached 23, 13 of them died in Cairo hospitals. Seriously enough, the disease has spread in 6th of October and Helwan provinces. A person has caught the disease in 6th of October and four suspected cases have been isolated in Helwan.
Cairo came first in terms of the highest number of the isolated cases, 780 patients. It was followed by Gharbia, 715; Kafr El-Sheikh, 499; Giza, 466; Alexandria, 354; and Menoufia, 444.
In addition, other 418 people have been isolated in Damietta; 346 people in Qalioubia; 309 in Dakahlia; 284 in Suhag and 251 in Menya. Matrouh, North Sinai, South Sinai, Suez, the Red Sea, the New Valley, Ismailia, Port Said and Luxor came last in the list of the least isolated cases suspected of being infected with the avian flu, less than 10 cases in each of them except Ismailia, 18 cases. The report has warned that the bird flu may turn into an epidemic killing millions of people and causing heavy economic losses. Although all the international organizations have praised the Egyptian expertise in facing and controlling the disease, this does not mean that we wiped it out.
