Egypt is the closest country to the European Union to have had any human cases..

News from Egypt regarding the dreaded bird flu is not good. A 4 year old boy Mohamed Mahmoud Ibrahim who hails from the province of Dakahlia is the latest person to contract the disease having been in regular contact with infected birds. The Ministry of Health issued a statement saying that the boy is being treated in hospital and that his condition is stable. Mohamed is being given the bird flu drug Tamiflu that is made by Roche Pharmaceuticals. In his case the prognosis looks good as he was taken to hospital soon after contracting the disease and he was given Tamiflu early on. It is important that in all cases of bird flu that medicine are administered sooner rather than later so that the disease does not take hold of you completely.

All in all Egypt has not been the worst affected country for bird flu as there have only been 24 cases so far which is small compared to the amount of cases for some Far Eastern countries but it is nevertheless a big worry for the health authorities. Egypt is the closest country to the European Union to have had any human cases and human deaths from the bird flu and that is why the illness is being very carefully monitored there. In all 13 people have succumbed to the bird flu virus in Egypt and all of them had had very close contact with poultry. Over five million people in Egypt are involved with poultry.

One good thing about all the bird flu hype and talk in Egypt is that people are now becoming more concious of the disease and are reporting suspicious and dead birds very quickly as opposed to trying to hide the disease. People are also more likely now to get themselves into hospital where they can get Tamiflu if they feel ill after having been in contact with poultry.