Egypt reports first human death from bird flu

A report carried by the state MENA news agency said a woman with symptoms of the disease had died in Al-Qaloubiyah province, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Cairo.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu had been found in a blood sample taken from the Egypt woman, who died on Friday morning (March 17, 2006).

(More: Reuters)




[edit on 18-3-2006 by Riwka]

And the story goes on to say...

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

She came in direct contact with the chickens.

Well for now,

If you keep the chickens outside your safe. I fear for our hill billy cousins down south

"Outside" is not enough, I think

Best would be to keep them in chicken houses.

Tthat would be a problem in wide areas of Egypt (and even more worse in the GazaStrip), where special chicken houses are very rare.





[edit on 18-3-2006 by Riwka]

Even if they are kept outside in chicken coops, you have to come in contact with them to give them food and water, clean the cages, and slaughter them. The important thing is to keep them far away from wild birds that can infect them. Some cage setups probably do this more effectively than others.

true. I grew up surrounded by chickens when we took the trip to grandmas house. They each had names, and it broke her heart to kill and eat them. In fact, i dont think she ever ate any.

Yesterday, Egypt reported its second human case of avian flu; an 30-year-old Egyptian man, who worked on a chicken farm in the province of Qalyoubiya (north of Cairo).

The woman who died Friday, was from the same province, but the two victims had not had any contact and were from different villages

The families of both were being treated and kept under observation, but had not yet shown any signs of infection.