Egypt was praised for constant efforts to contain the spread of fatal bird flu virus which has claimed six lives in the most populous Arab country.

The Egyptian health authorities reported on Thursday that a 75- year-old woman died of the deadly H5N1 strain of virus, the sixth human bird flu fatality since the outbreak of the deadly disease in Egypt in February.

The woman from the governorate (province) of Minya, some 220 km south of Cairo, was hospitalized on May 12 after contracting the deadly virus due to direct contact with backyard poultry.

Egypt has so far reported 14 human cases of bird flu, six of them have died and the other eight recovered.

Despite the new fatal case, UN experts and the World Health Organization (WHO) hailed Egypt's rapid and effective response to bird flu.

David Nabarro, UN System Senior Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, said on Monday that Egypt's immediate response to bird flu showed that even less-developed countries can cope with limited outbreaks if they follow guidelines.

Although health experts had worried that Egypt could be hit hard by the deadly virus because of its backyard flocks and widespread poverty, Egypt coped well with its outbreak, Nabarro said.

He even introduced Egypt's handling of bird flu as a model to be followed by other countries, according to an article posted on a website dedicated to the bird flu, which was run by the Egyptian state information service.

The UN coordinator confirmed Egyptian government's transparency in dealing with bird flu, the article said.

The WHO was satisfied with Egypt's performance by inviting Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Hatem el-Gabali to share its experience in fighting bird flu at the 59th annual meeting of WHO, slated for May 23 in Geneva, according to the official MENA news agency.

Egypt reported its first human bird flu case on March 18 after the country found the first bird flu case in dead poultry on Feb. 17.

According to Egypt's Supreme Committee to Combat Bird Flu, 20 out of the country's 26 governorates have found bird flu as Egypt is on a major route for migratory birds.

Beside Egypt, the deadly H5N1 strain has spread to more than 40 countries and killed over 110 people worldwide since its latest outbreak in southeast Asia in late 2003, according to the WHO.

Most victims were infected after close contact with sick birds.

Source: Xinhua