CAIRO: A second Egyptian has died from the bird flu virus, Health Minister Hatem El-Gabali said on Monday. An official from the World Health Organization (WHO) told Reuters the latest victim of the H5N1 strain was a woman who had been in a critical condition on a ventilator before her death Monday morning. This is the second death due to bird flu in Egypt, the state news agency MENA quoted El-Gabali as saying. The woman from Qalyoubiyah, about 40 km (25 miles) north of Cairo, contracted the disease after coming into close contact with infected birds, El-Gabali said. The first fatality was from the same province. Egypt said on Sunday a fifth person had caught what appeared to be bird flu but was treated with Tamiflu, the drug used to fight bird flu in humans, and was in good condition. The government has previously said four people have been confirmed to have been suffering from the bird flu virus, which was first found in February among birds in Egypt. The first human infection appeared in mid-March. Two of the Egyptians the government said contracted bird flu were released from hospitals on Sunday after responding well to treatment. The first human death in Egypt from bird flu, which has spread across Asia, Africa and parts of Asia, was reported on March 18. The dead woman was 30 years old and reared chickens at her home. Although hard to catch, people can contract bird flu after coming into contact with infected birds. Scientists fear the virus, which has killed about 100 people worldwide since 2003, could mutate into a form that could pass easily between humans, triggering a pandemic in which millions could die. WHO officials say Egypt has a good bird flu monitoring network in place with officials present in every province but public awareness of how to avoid bird flu has to be raised. Most of Egypt s cases so far have been among people who raise poultry in their backyards and many are not following instructions from the Health Ministry, the officials say. Farmers in Egypt, the Arab world s most populous state, say the poultry market is worth about LE 17 billion ($3 billion) and supports up to 3 million people, but has been devastated. Reuters
