Egyptian bird flu hits hard

Eighth Egyptian dies of bird flu - WHO
24 Dec 2006 14:33:19 GMT

CAIRO, Dec 24 (Reuter) - An Egyptian woman died of bird flu on Sunday, only hours after tests confirmed she had been suffering from the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, a World Health Organization official said.

Hassan el-Bushra, regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance at the WHO, said the 30-year-old woman had been in hospital since mid-December, but doctors had not immediately suspected bird flu as she denied having had contact with poultry.

Her death brings the number of total human deaths from H5N1 in Egypt to eight.