Egyptian girl, 4, dies of bird flu virus

Mon May 18, 2009 12:23pm EDT

(Adds details of case, background)

CAIRO, May 18 (Reuters) - A 4-year-old Egyptian girl has died after contracting the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus, bringing to 27 the death toll from the virus in the most populous Arab country, state news agency MENA said on Monday.

Egypt has been hit harder by bird flu than any other country outside Asia and has seen a surge of cases in recent weeks. Twelve new human infections have been reported since April 1 -- more than the country saw in all of 2008.

The girl, from the Nile Delta province of Daqahlia, fell ill on May 9 and died after being admitted to hospital on Sunday suffering from a lung infection. She brings the total number of human cases of avian influenza in Egypt to 72, MENA said.

The avian flu virus rarely infects people, but experts say they fear it could mutate into a form that humans could easily pass to one another, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.

Most of those infected had come into contact with infected domestic birds in a country where 5 million households raise poultry as a significant source of food and income.

Last month, Egypt ordered the culling of all the country's 300,000 to 400,000 pigs as a precaution against the new H1N1 influenza strain, also known as swine flu, which has infected nearly 6,000 people in more than 30 countries. The new virus has not been detected in Egypt so far.

Since 2003, the more deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has infected more than 400 people in 15 countries and killed more than 250. It has killed or forced the culling of more than 300 million birds in 61 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston; editing by Ralph Boulton)



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