Egypt is the nation which has been worse hit by the H5N1 bird flu virus

Health officials in Egypt recently announced that a girl of sixteen died from the H5N1 of bird flu in the country. This brings the officially recorded figures of deaths from bird flu in Egypt to 51 and this is the first case to surface in the country since April. In the hot summer months the bird flu virus is not so prevalent as it survives better in colder temperatures.

The girl who died Samiha Salem, like in so many cases of human bird flu in Egypt had been in contact with ducks in her own household. She had been taken to hospital when she became ill and was soon in intensive care and being treated with the bird flu drug Tamiflu. Unfortunately for Samiha the disease had already taken hold of her body before she was given the Tamiflu and she died from respiratory failure due to a pulmonary infection. 

Outside of Asia, Egypt is the nation which has been worst hit by the H5N1 bird flu virus and this is partly because of the cultural tradition of poor Egyptians actually living with their animals. This means there is very close contact between the animals and the people living in the houses especially children who have been responsible for most cases of the virus in Egypt.

In a separate development India is trying to prevent an outbreak from spreading in chickens and other poultry all over the state of Assam. The health authorities have undertaken plans to cull more than 200,000 birds in different farms and other areas. The Indian authorities had also placed in strict quarantine about 100 people who had been in contact with contaminated birds and were showing signs of flu.

No human victims of the bird flu have been confirmed so far in Assam but nevertheless the authorities are not taking chances and have even gone and shipped ventilators to the area in case they are needed by people who contract the virus.