The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that four Egyptians have caught bird flu, including two who died from the virus, an Egyptian health ministry official said on Monday.
Bird flu has spread rapidly since late 2003 from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The United States fears it will arrive on its shores before year's end.
Following are some facts about the H5N1 avian flu virus and its spread around the globe.
-- Since the virus re-emerged in Asia in 2003, outbreaks have been confirmed in more than 45 countries and territories, according to data from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
-- Since the beginning of January, 2006, more than 30 countries have reported outbreaks, in most cases involving wild birds such as swans.
-- The virus has killed 107 people since 2003 in nine countries and territories, according to WHO. Countries with confirmed human cases are: Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.
-- In total, the virus is known to have infected 190 people since 2003, according to the WHO. Many of those who have died are children and young adults.
-- Vietnam and Indonesia have the highest number of cases, accounting for 64 of the total deaths.
-- The H5N1 virus is not new to science and was responsible for an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Scotland in 1959.
-- Nor is H5N1 the only bird flu virus. There are numerous strains. For example, an outbreak in 2003 of the H7N7 bird flu virus in the Netherlands led to the destruction of more than 30 million birds -- a quarter of the country's poultry stock. About 2.7 million were destroyed in Belgium, and around 400,000 in Germany. In the Netherlands, 89 people were infected with the H7N7 virus, of whom one (a veterinarian) died.
-- The H5N1 virus made the first known jump into humans in Hong Kong in 1997, infecting 18 people and killing six of them. The government ordered the immediate culling of the territory's entire poultry flock, ending the outbreak.
-- Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical influenza-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches, to eye infections (conjunctivitis), pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, viral pneumonia, and other severe and life-threatening complications. (Sources: OIE, WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
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