Egypt has detected a third new case of the H5N1 bird flu virus, just hours after confirming two new cases in a brother and sister, a WHO official said on Sunday.

Hassan el-Bushra, regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance at the WHO said the three cases were from the same household, which houses an extended family of 33 people living together in a village in Egypt´s Gharbiya province.

Bushra said the family raised ducks, and had slaughtered the flock after a number of ducks had become sick and died.