11 October 2006

The Ministry of Health in Egypt has confirmed the country´s first case of human infection with the H5N1 virus since May of this year.

The patient is a 39-year-old woman from the Gharbiya governorate in the Nile Delta. She developed symptoms on 30 September and was hospitalized on 4 October. She subsequently developed pneumonia. She remains hospitalized in stable condition.

Her recent history includes the home slaughter and defeathering of around a dozen ducks when signs of illness and deaths began to occur in the flock

Egypt reported a recurrence of poultry outbreaks in backyard flocks in September 2006.

Previous human cases occurred from late March 2006 through May. To date, the country has reported 15 cases, of which 6 were fatal.