A case of the H7 strain of bird flu was detected in Egypt after a migrant bird in Sharqiya governorate in the Nile Delta tested positive to the H7 virus, Egyptian Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali said on Monday.
El-Gabali confirmed the discovery of the bird flu case when addressing the Heath Committee of the Shura Council on Monday, adding a sample of the virus will be sent abroad for further analysis, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported.
After a migrated bird from East Europe found in a pond in Sharqiya was tested positive to the H7 strain of the disease, al- Gabali said he contacted Minister of Agriculture Amin Abbaza to hold an emergency meeting of the anti-bird flu committee to assess the situation.
The health minister warned against direct contact with live birds, saying leniency in dealing with live birds could lead to an outbreak of the disease.
Among a dozen more forms of avian influenza, or bird flu, the H5N1 form is the most dangerous. It is highly pathogenic and extremely contagious among birds, both by air and contact with faeces. But the H7 strain is not as deadly as H5 strains of the disease, said the report.
Since the deadly H5N1 virus was first detected in dead poultry in Egypt in February 2006 and the first human case in March of the same year, about 38 bird flu human cases have been recorded in the country. Out of them, 23 cases have recovered and 15 died.
The latest victim was 25-year-old Naeima Abdu Gamil, who came from Damietta governorate, 150 km north of Cairo, and tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in late July.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article