Bird flu - latest case in Egypt

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that an Egyptian woman has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

The 37-year-old woman is the 21st case in Egypt and is she is currently being treated in hospital.

To date Egypt has had the highest-known cluster of human cases outside Asia, with 12 deaths out of the 21 reported cases since the virus first surfaced in Egyptian poultry a year ago.

Apparently the woman kept birds in her home and was admitted to hospital on February 12th after coming into contact with infected poultry.

Experts believe the H5N1 virus has become active again after an apparent lull in recent months and outbreaks in birds are causing concern in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey, Pakistan, Hungary and Nigeria, which reported its first human death earlier this month.

The World Health Organisation says the virus continues to kill both people and poultry in Indonesia, and says there have been 273 human cases worldwide and 166 deaths since 2003, while million of birds have died or been slaughtered to prevent the spread of the virus.

The virus remains primarily a disease of birds and almost all human infections have been as a result of contact with infected birds.

The main threat at present is to birds and the poultry trade, but health experts continue to fear the virus will mutate into a form easily transmitted between people, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions of people.