UPDATE 2-Two Egyptian women die of bird flu

Mon Dec 31, 2007 2:00pm EST

(Adds second death on Monday)

CAIRO Dec 31 (Reuters) - Two Egyptian women died of bird flu on Monday, bringing to four the number of fatalities from the virus in the most populous Arab country in less than a week.

All four cases involved women and are believed to have resulted from exposure to sick or dead back-yard birds.

Firdaus Mohamed Hadad of Menoufia province in the Nile Delta was taken to hospital on Saturday and died early on Monday, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

"She suffered from a high fever and difficulty breathing and had a pulmonary infection after coming into contact with birds suspected of being infected with avian flu," the statement said. "She was placed on a respirator but died at dawn on Monday."

Later, John Jabbour, an Egypt-based official with the WHO, said a second, unnamed, woman died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in northern Egypt.

The deaths were the 18th and 19th bird flu fatalities in Egypt since the virus arrived in early 2006.

It is the third winter that the virus has struck after lying low during Egypt's hot summers, when it is much less likely to spread from one carrier to another.

The government has promoted a poultry vaccination programme but coercive measures are hard to enforce.

Around 5 million households in Egypt depend on poultry as a main source of food and income, and the government has said this makes it unlikely the disease can be eradicated.

Deaths from bird flu now total more than 210 worldwide since 2003 and have been reported in several African and Asian countries, as well as in Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Health experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily from one person to another, possibly triggering a pandemic that could kill millions.

(Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Stephen Weeks)

((cynthia.johnston@reuters.com; +20 2 2578 3290; Reuters Messaging: cynthia.johnston.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: BIRDFLU EGYPT/

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