Thirty Suspect H5N1 Cases in Daqahliyah Egypt
Recombinomics Commentary 21:11
January 5, 2008
Question that has imposed himself recently is Egypt failed in the face of bird flu, both in terms of confrontation or awareness, particularly in the provinces with the growing incidence of proven positive to the surface of hundreds of suspected cases in various Egyptian governorates, which witnessed Dakahlia alone more than 30 the case of suspicion, since the death of case No. 42 of Dakahlia governorate
The above translation defines the largest cluster of suspect H5N1 cases reported to date in Egypt. Most of the 30 cases in Al Daqahliyah appear to have been admitted within he past few days (see satellite map for details). Included in the geographical cluster is at least one familial cluster. Although there have been no confirmed H5N1 cases reported in the last week, the number of hospitalized suspect cases has exploded.
The test data on these cases remains largely unknown. A small number have been reported as negative, and Egypt has had a large number of suspect cases in the past. However, the earlier suspect cases generally followed a pattern associated with season flu, which peaks in the March/ Aprril/ time frame. Last season the number of mild cases of H5N1 also peaked at that time.
The recent cases however, follow confirmed cases that were largely fatal. Four of the five cases, including the one in Al Daqahliyah, have died. One suspect case in Cairo died a week ago, and although the teacher’s backyard birds were said to be negative, the status of the deceased teacher remains unknown. He had missed a couple of days of teaching, developed pneumonia, and died, but the cause of death has not been stated.
As noted in the translation above, there have been hundreds of suspect cases in recent days in Egypt.
Details of test results on these patients would be useful.
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