CAIRO, 18 December 2008 (IRIN) - Egypt suffered its first bird flu fatality in six months when a girl died on 15 December, bringing the death toll from the disease to 23.

(Read more bird flu reports http://www.irinnews.org/Theme.aspx?theme=BRF)

Health Ministry spokesman Abdel-Rahman Shahin told IRIN in Cairo the death was the first since April 2008.

"This indicates the high level of awareness the Health Ministry and media were able to raise among Egyptians handling poultry," Shahin said, adding: "Virus activity fluctuates every season and tends to be more active in the winter."

A government committee set up to combat bird flu echoed Shahin's comments on the success of the public awareness campaign, saying infection rates among domestic poultry had dropped sharply since the second week of January 2008 thanks to increased vaccination efforts.

Samiyah Salem, 16, from al-Zaraaby village in the southern Egyptian governorate of Asyut died after being admitted to Asyut University Hospital on 13 December with a high fever and breathing problems, hospital officials told IRIN. She contracted the disease after exposure to infected household poultry.

To date 51 people have been infected since the first poultry death attributed to the H5N1 virus in February 2006.

"Early diagnosis is the most important factor and determines whether the person will live or die," Nasr Qilini, a doctor, told IRIN. "Tamiflu vaccination is available at all hospitals and medical units across Egypt."

Medical experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) fear the H5N1 virus could mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus, resulting in human-to-human transmission and a pandemic that could kill millions of people.

Of all the Middle East countries Egypt has been the hardest hit by avian flu, suffering its first human death from the disease in March 2006.

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