Egypt to host international bird flu conference
21/10/2008 19:02 CAIRO, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - Egypt is to host an international conference on the bird flu virus in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh on October 25, the country's health minister said on Tuesday.
The two-day conference, which will gather 500 participants from 116 countries, including 50 health and agriculture ministers, is being co-organized by the European Union as part of global efforts to combat the disease.
"The conference in Sharm el Sheikh will provide the opportunity to talk about what Africa needs in financial terms to continue the fight against bird flu, as well as the early diagnosis and prevention of the virus," Hatem El-Gabali said.
Bird flu first appeared in Egypt in 2006. Since then, 50 people have been infected, with 22 fatalities. The country is the worst-hit outside Asia by avian flu.
Previous conferences on avian flu were held in Washington, Beijing, Vienna, Bamako and New Delhi.
According to the World Health Organization, avian influenza has so far killed 245 people out of a total 387 confirmed cases worldwide. Although there have been no incidences of human to human infection, experts fear that it may mutate into a form that could easily be transmitted from person to person, causing a global pandemic.
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