Egyptian Woman Positive for H5N1

From the International Herald Tribune:

"CAIRO, Egypt: An Egyptian woman has tested H5N1 positive, bringing the total number of persons infected with the deadly bird flu strain in the country to 21, a World Health Organization official here said on Wednesday.

The 37 year-old woman, from the oasis town of Fayoum, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Cairo, was moved to a hospital for contagious diseases in the Egyptian capital, WHO's John Jabbour said.

Twenty-one people have been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain in Egypt so far, with 12 of them dying from the disease. Of the 12 deaths, 11 have been women.

Almost all cases reported in Egypt were among families raising domestic poultry and women accounted for most of the patients. In Egypt, women and girls tend to look after chickens and turkeys kept in backyards, making them more vulnerable to avian flu.

Since the avian influenza outbreak a year ago, Egypt has been one of the countries worst afflicted with the deadly bird flu outside Asia, where the disease originated.

Also, Egypt has seen an increase in the death rate from the bird flu infection over the winter months, which sparked fears that the strain of the virus may be mutating to a more drug resistant form.

Egypt's latest case was identified as Nadia Mohammad Abdel Hafez. The woman was first admitted to a clinic her hometown of Fayoum on Monday, with high fever and symptoms of pneumonia, Jabbour said.

Once she tested positive, she was transferred to Cairo but is reported to be in stable condition."