More Egyptian poor fall victim to flu season

Salma Shukrallah , Wednesday 22 Dec 2010

As swine flu attracts global attention, Egypt continues to suffer from the "neglected" avian strain of the virus

Several deaths caused by the so called bird flu, avian flu, and swine flu, or H1N1, have been reported in the past month.

Despite the alarming mutation of the two viruses to become transferable to humans proving less fatal than expected, Egypt’s economy and health continue to suffer.

According to the Egyptian ministry of health, there have been 114 cases of bird flu, mostly in rural areas north of Cairo. Although the ministry did not give an official estimate of the number of H1N1 cases, at least 8 have been reported yesterday in Gharbeia Governorate, in Egypt’s Nile Delta, in addition to the tens of cases that have been reported during the past month....