Egypt's bird flu toll reaches 29 after two more children infected

Egypt's Health Ministry confirmed Tuesday that a six-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy, both from southern Egyptian cities, have contracted avian flu and been transferred to Cairo for treatment. Both children are stable and receiving Tamiflu.

The new cases follow a diagnosis two days earlier in a three-year-old from Aswan, whose condition is now improving. Egypt's total stands at 29 human infections and 13 deaths since the virus emerged there in February 2006.

Geographic and cultural factors, including major bird migration routes and the common practice of keeping poultry near homes, have given Egypt the highest bird flu death toll outside Asia. Women and young children, who typically tend the birds, have been disproportionately affected.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in March 2007, in its own words.