Bird flu kills woman in Egypt

Egypt's health ministry said on Saturday that Amal Mohammed Ismail, 30, from Qaloubiyah province, about 40km north of Cairo, was taken ill on Wednesday.

"They (doctors) took samples for analysis at the ministry of health laboratories... They confirmed she was infected with bird flu. She died on Friday morning," a health ministry statement said, adding the woman had been given Tamiflu, a drug used to treat suspected cases of bird flu.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that Egypt had reported its first human case of bird flu.

Dr Hassan al-Bushra, WHO's regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance, said the H5N1 strain of bird flu had been found in a blood sample taken from the woman, and that other samples were being tested for confirmation.

Infected chickens

The woman had earlier reported the death of chickens she raised at her home, al-Bushra said, adding that initial reports seemed to indicate that she had then killed other chickens herself for consumption.

She was later admitted to hospital with a fever and shortness of breath.

The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain has been found in birds in 18 of Egypt's 26 governorates.

Telephone hotlines set up after the disease was initially discovered last month in Egypt, the world's most populous Arab state, were jammed by worried Egyptians after farmers reportedly threw slaughtered poultry onto the streets and into the Nile river.

Egyptian farmers say the poultry market - worth about 17 billion Egyptian pounds ($3 billion) and supporting up to 3 million people - has been devastated.

No Israeli cases

In Israel, authorities were working on Saturday to contain its first outbreak of the disease. They were relieved to be told that four farm workers admitted to hospital on Friday had not contracted the virus.

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