With third bird-flu death, govt. steps up calls for prevention measures

The government has intensified its calls to the public to follow specific instructions and strategies aimed at combating the spread of the potentially pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus. “The strategies to prevent human infections are there, but we need the public to cooperate and make sure they’re implemented,” said health ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahine. “Local authorities are working in the villages to raise health awareness and provide expert surveillance on poultry populations to ensure that further human infections don’t occur.” The call came as the health ministry announced a third human death from bird flu on 6 April. The 16-year old victim, from the Menoufiya governorate, 80 km north of Cairo, had been in close contact with domestic fowl despite official efforts to minimise domestic bird breeding. What’s more, the school she attended was reportedly located near a farm that had registered infections among birds last week. It remains unclear whether the latest victim was infected by domestically-owned or farm birds, according to the health ministry. Authorities blamed the death on a general lack of health awareness among the public, pointing to the fact that she was first taken to hospital on 5 April, only one day before she died. “It was obvious from the severity of her case that her family took her to hospital long after she started showing symptoms,” Shahine said, suggesting that she may have survived had she been treated earlier. Two previous bird-flu deaths were recorded in Qaliubiya province, 40 km north of Cairo. Both victims had been infected by coming into contact with infected poultry. The first death was announced on 18 March, a month after bird flu was first detected in Egypt among poultry. The second occurred over a week later. Meanwhile, a new suspected human case of the virus was announced in Qaliubiya on 6 April, bringing the total number of human cases in Egypt to 11. “He has been in close contact with domestically reared birds,” Shahine said of the latest case, adding that the patient was receiving treatment and that his condition was stable.