Bird flu infections in first 2 months of 2015 exceed all cases in 2014

The number of bird flu infections and subsequent fatalities continue to rise in Egypt, with the first two months of this year registering more deaths than the total number of deaths reported throughout 2014. 

In under two months, at least 46 individuals are reported to have been infected with the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, from which no less than 13 have died. 

This is a significant increase from figures reported in 2014, when a total of 27 infections were confirmed over a period of 12 months, of which 11 were fatal.
Egypt's latest fatality from the bird flu virus was reported on Wednesday. 

According to the state-owned Middle East News Agency, a 37 year-old man from the Fayoum governorate was the latest victim to succumb to this virus.

Some local media outlets reported that the number of fatalities from bird flu infections this year far exceeds the official figures mentioned above. 

Quoting Nasser Abdu, a member of the state's "Supreme Committee to Confront Bird Flu," the privately owned Al-Shorouk newspaper reported that at least 76 individuals have tested positive for the bird flu since the beginning of 2015, from which 24 have allegedly died. 

In contrast to its procedures last year, the Health Ministry's has not been publishing the latest number of infections and fatalities associated with bird flu on its official webpage.

While it has established a hotline (105) to answer questions pertaining to the bird flu crisis, the Health Ministry's telephone operators are declining to provide any figures regarding H5N1 infections this year. 

Despite the dramatic increase in bird flu infections since the beginning of 2015, some officials from the Health Ministry have been downplaying the domestic rates, both of infections and fatalities. 

The ministry's official spokesperson, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, claimed that Egypt maintains one of the world's lowest mortality rates in association with bird flu infections.

Abdel Ghaffar claims that Egypt's mortality rate from bird flu infections does not exceed 37 percent, while the average fatality rates in some other countries of the world may reach up to 60 percent.

Abdel Ghaffar attributes Egypt's increased number of bird flu infections this year to "a lack of awareness" regarding the virus.

The Health Ministry calls on all those handling live poultry to maintain residential quarters that are separated and distant from bird coops. The ministry also advises all those involved in the poultry industry to not expose children to living birds, or to those birds displaying symptoms of illness.

Furthermore, the ministry advises all those involved in the poultry industry to thoroughly wash their hands with soap and water after having handling birds.

On January 20, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb decreed the establishment of the "Supreme Committee to Confront Bird Flu" so as to combat the spread of the bird flu virus throughout the country, and to protect Egypt's poultry industry from the virus.

Nonetheless, the H5N1 strain of the virus continues to claim lives on a weekly basis.

Most bird flu infections and fatalities have been reported in rural and agricultural areas of the country. Women and children involved in the handling and breeding of poultry are most often the victims of this potentially fatal virus.