by
Martin Morris
on Sunday, 09 August 2009
Egyptian health authorities are concerned about the risk that the H1N1 swine flu virus and the much deadlier H5N1 avian flu virus could combine with seasonal human influenza.
Speaking to KUNA, Egyptian Minister of Health Hatem Al-Gabali said the bird and swine flu pose the same source of danger to human health.
The minister has urged all citizens to be vigilant and take seriously preventative measures designed to limit the spread of avian flu that has now become endemic in Egypt.
He added that Egypt had reported a total of 82 avian flu human cases since the virus first surfaced in the country, including 27 deaths - the highest rate in the world.
The Egyptian government has set in motion a preventive plan to curb the disease ahead of the school year, scheduled to start on September 26.
To date, 329 swine flu cases have been detected in Egypt so far, with just only death.
case, while 236 have recovered, and the remaining cases are still receiving medication at hospital.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that while the H1N1 virus was stable and there was no sign of it mixing with avian flu or other influenza viruses it has warned that the influenza virus is highly unpredictable and has potential for mutation.
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