Bird flu case # 34 for Egypt

A 15-year-old Egyptian girl has become the country's 34th human victim of bird flu.

The teenager Marianna Kameel Mikhail from Cairo's Shubra district, was admitted to hospital on Thursday suffering from a high fever and has tested positive for the virus.

She is being treated with with Tamiflu and is apparently in a stable condition; she had it seems been in contact with infected birds.

Apart from Asia, Egypt has had the highest number of confirmed human bird flu cases and 13 Egyptians have succumbed to the deadly virus since it first appeared in the country's poultry a year ago.

The first bird flu case in dead poultry appeared on February 17, 2006 and the virus then spread rapidly to 20 of the country's 26 provinces.

The first human bird flu case was reported on March 18 last year.

Most of the 34 cases have occurred in northern Egypt and almost all those affected had been in contact with sick or dead household birds.

Egypt lies directly under major bird migration routes and the widespread practice of backyard domestic fowl has exacerbated the problem and contributed to the high human death toll.

Out of the 34 human cases reported in Egypt to date, 13 have died, 18 have recovered while three are still being treated.