Avian Influenza Update: Egypt
April 3, 2006
On April 3, 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection had been confirmed in four patients in Egypt. Two of the patients died and two patients fully recovered and have now been discharged from the hospital. A fifth patient, previously announced by the Ministry of Health, remains hospitalized. External diagnostic confirmation of this patient, an 18-year-old girl from the Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, is pending.
On April 2, Egyptian authorities announced that an additional two residents of Kafr El-Sheikh, a 6-year-old girl and her 18-month-old sister, were shown to have H5N1 infections in local laboratory tests. Further diagnostic confirmation is pending. Both girls remain hospitalized in stable condition.
Egypt is the ninth country to report laboratory-confirmed human cases in the current outbreak, which began in Vietnam in December 2003. Four of these countries reported their first human cases this year, including Turkey, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Egypt. For additional information, see http://www.who.int/csr/don/2006_04_03/en/index.html.
Page last modified April 4, 2006