Fifth Confirmed H5N1 Case in Egypt This Week
Recombinomics Commentary 20:48
December 30, 2007
The ministry said in a statement Firdaus Mohamed Hadad of Menoufia province in the Nile Delta was taken to hospital on Saturday and died early on Monday.
"She suffered from a high fever and difficulty breathing and had a pulmonary infection after coming into contact with birds suspected of being infected with avian flu," the statement said. "She was placed on a respirator but died at dawn on Monday."
The above comments describe the fifth confirmed case in Egypt this week. This is also the third confirmed fatality. In addition a suspect fatality has been reported for a school teacher in Cairo. The two confirmed hospitalized patients are in critical condition or in the ICU.
The most recent confirmed case is in Al Minufyah, which is the second confirmed case there, in addition to two suspect cases (see satellite map).
The rapid deterioration of the fatal cases suggests that a more virulent strain of H5N1 is circulating in Egypt.
Sequence data on these cases is critical.
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