CAIRO: The Ministry of Health announced the death of a 25-year-old Egyptian woman from Belkes village in Dakahlia governorate from the H1N1 virus, Egypt's second swine flu death. According to Amr Kandil, deputy minister of health for precautionary measures, the deceased, Boussy Al-Morsi Mohamed, was declared dead in Al-Sader Hospital in Mansoura, the capital of Dakahlia. She caught the virus from her husband who was here on vacation from Saudi Arabia, where he works. The husband had taken Tamilflu and recovered from the virus, but on Aug. 29, Mohamed showed symptoms of the flu. She received treatment through a private clinic, but didn't show signs of recovering. She was transferred to a hospital on Sept. 1 and was given Tamiflu, but again she wasn't responsive to treatment. It was not reported that Mohamed suffered other health problems. Egypt's first swine flu victim, a 25-year-old who had just returned from Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, was reported to have suffered other health problems prior to the infection. Kandil said that the H1N1 virus had not mutated in Egypt. Last week, the Egyptian cabinet issued an official statement saying that the H1N1 virus is "still a weak virus and is weaker than the seasonal flu virus. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) had previously announced that the world is going to witness another strong wave of the virus and added that the virus is new and "is unexpected and could change. Rumors about another death from H1N1 flu appeared after a noticeable increase in the number and swine-flu deaths in other Arab countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain. Kandil denied that the ministry is withholding information about the status of the virus in Egypt. He stressed that the ministry keeps the public informed of all updates and that if there are more deaths, the ministry will inform the press and the public as is the case with bird flu. Before press time on Sunday, the Ministry of Health had announced nine new cases of H1N1 flu raising Egypt's total to 783 cases, 716 of which have recovered. All nine cases are Egyptian, according to Kandil. On Friday, the Ministry of Health had announced 16 new H1N1 cases, again all Egyptian. In a recent press release issued by Egypt's Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, he said that Dar Al-Iftaa, official authority issuing Islamic edicts, has not come up with a fatwa to discourage going on Hajj pilgrimage, where hoards of people come into very close contact.
