LOC22:20
19:20 GMT
CAIRO, May 30 (KUNA) -- The Egyptian Health Ministry confirmed on Saturday
the 77th infection case with H5N1 virus.
A female baby, aged one year and two months, contracted the highly
pathogenic virus because she got in contact with domestic birds in a village
located in Daqahliya, north Cairo, the ministry's spokesman Dr. Abdulrahman
Shahin said in a press briefing.
The baby was hospitalized five days ago, suffering from bird flu-like
symptoms including high temperature, running nose, and respiratory disorder.
She was diagnosed as H5N1 positive so she has been treated with the
antiviral drug Tamiflu, Dr. Shahin revealed.
The victim is being relocated to Manshiyat Al-Bakri Hospital, Cairo, for
further medication, he added.
The case pushed to 77 Egypt's national tally of the fatal disease with the
death toll amounting to 27 since the outbreak of the highly contagious virus
in February, 2006.
The National Higher Commission against Bird Flu has adopted a new
preventive methodology to control the spread of the H5N1, a subtype of the
influenza A virus commonly-known as bird flu which can cause illness in
humans. The methodology involves the medical and municipal authorities as well
as the mass media. (end)
bna.gb
KUNA 302220 May 09NNNN