Egypt, 17 yr old girl dies of avian flu

In Egypt the number of confirmed deaths from avian flu has risen to 12 with the death of a 17-year-old Egyptian girl, Nouri Nadi, from Fayyoum Shewas admitted to hospital a week ago after being initially diagnosed with human flu.
As with most other cases so far, it is thought she became infected with avian influenza after coming into contact with sick and infected birds.
This death brings the number of known infections in Egypt to 20 which is the largest human cluster outside Asia. The virus has been found in 19 of the 26 provinces in the country.
Of the 12 people who have died from the illness in Egypt, 11 have been women - a pattern thought to be related to the fact that women and girls often look after poultry in Egypt.

Several weeks ago, the WHO announced that two of those who had died had been infected with a strain of the virus that showed moderate resistance to the antiviral drug, Tamiflu. This is a clearly worrying development.