Given the recent reports of H5N1 Avian Influenza cases in Turkey, the Embassy wishes to inform the American community that there are no known cases of H5N1 Avian Influenza in Egypt. In addition, the Embassy is working closely with the Government of Egypt to monitor the situation, and an interagency working group within the Embassy meets regularly to review the latest situation in Egypt and around the world.
Posts: 4576 | From: Cairo | Registered: Jun 2002
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UN announces bird flu has hit Iraq as 15-year-old Kurdish girl dies
A UNITED Nations official and the health minister in Iraqi Kurdistan today said a 15-year-old girl who died earlier this month in northern Iraq was a victim of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.
It is the first known case of the disease in the country.
"Today we started a campaign to kill birds in three towns - Ranya, Dukan and Qaladaza," said Kurdistan Health Minister Mohammed Khoshnow.
The UN official said testing on blood samples from the girl, who died on January 17, were done at the US Navy Medical Research Unit in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
The official had been supervising the examination of samples sent by the regional government in northern Iraq. He said 30 other samples from northern Iraq were being tested. The girl died in a Kurdish area near the border with Turkey and Iran after contracting a severe lung infection.
Her hometown of Ranya is just north of a reservoir that is a stopover for migratory birds from Turkey.
Her uncle, who lived in the same home, died on January 27.
Turkey is battling an outbreak of the deadly virus. At least 21 there have contracted the virus, according to preliminary tests. Of those ill with the disease, four children died.
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