New AI outbreak in Egypt

For the first time in months, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has been reported in a domestic poultry farm in southern Egypt.

According to a statement from the agriculture ministry, the new case was reported in the village of Al-Rakakna, in the Sohag province, some 490 kilometres (305 miles) south of Cairo.

All poultry on the farm were slaughtered and tests are under way to check that none of the people who had been in contact with the diseased animals were infected.

The last human case of H5N1 reported in Egypt dates back to May.

Out of the 14 human cases of avian influenza that have been reported among Egyptians since mid-March, six turned out to be fatal and eight people recovered after being treated with the drug Tamiflu.

Editor WorldPoultry