The family did not keep poultry at home...

In yet another case of bird flu in humans a teenage girl in Egypt has passed away from the dreaded avian flu virus. What will have people panicking and worrying is that she contracted the disease not by being in very close contact with chickens over a long period but by the simple act of going to buy a chicken at a local market. The case has been confirmed by the World Health Organisation and it now means that there have been fourteen official deaths from the H5N1 bird flu virus in Egypt since it first came on the scene in 2006. 

Interestingly many of the cases of bird flu in Egypt have involved women who traditionally look after the birds and poultry in the family. In Egypt many families keep their own chickens and turkeys in their backyards and the younger children often play with them. Only recently we reported that two children of the ages five and six had contracted the bird flu virus in Egypt after having spent time playing with chickens.

The case of the death of Mariana Kameel Michael is therefore unusual in that the family did not keep poultry at home and she only had very limited contact with the infected birds. It is known that birds who fly on a migratory journey from Asia often stop over Egypt thus explaining how the country is suffering from bird flu in the first place.

Egypt is the closest country to the European Union which has had a human case of the H5N1 bird flu virus and at Ukmedix News we are of the opinion that it is from Egypt that the biggest threat to the health of both birds and humans from the dreaded virus in Europe comes from. The Egyptian government has been extremely efficient in controlling the bird flu in their country and have stocked up with medical supplies such as Tamiflu and Relenza.