Express news on bird flu (February 6, 2007)
February 6, 2007 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
EGYPT: Teenage girl dies of bird flu. Egypt’s 12 fatal bird flu victim was a 17-year old girl from the rural Fayyoum region who died on February 2. Egypt has been the country worst affected by H5N1 outside of Asia, and a new strain of the virus recently found to be moderately resistant to Tamiflu. [via Reuters]
Bird Flu Expert Warns of More Outbreaks in Nigeria. Nineteen states and Abuja, the Nigerian capital, have reporte bird flu outbreaks in poultry in the past days, amidst news of the first human case of H5N1. Concerns abound that Nigeria risks becoming a permanent host to the virus. Already considered one of the weakest links in the campaign to curb the disease, Nigeria suffers from overcrowded cities, endemic poverty, weak surveillance and greater animal-to-human contact especially among the numerous backyard farmers. [via VoA]
England reports first H5N1 poultry outbreak. A confirmed H5N1 outbreak was reported at a large turkey farm in Suffolk, England that began on January 27 and affected 2,500 turkeys being raised for meat production. The strain is similar to the one detected on a goose farm in southeastern Hungary in late January. [via CIDRAP]
In a related development, 160,000 birds now culled after H5N1 avian flu outbreak. Experts are working on finding the source of the H5N1 strain. A Suffolk farm worker was admitted to the hospital with a mild respiratory illness but England’s Health Protection agency said it could not yet confirm if the person was exposed to H5N1. [via 24dash, Manchester Online]
Tags: bird flu, H5N1, outbreak, Egypt, Nigeria, England, UK, human case, human fatality
