Bird flu takes four in Libya: Health minister
Iran Press TV
Sat Dec 27, 2014 11:49PM GMT
Four people have died after contacting bird flu in Libya over the last few days, says the health minister of the country's internationally recognized government.
Rida al-Awkali made the announcement on Saturday, adding that a fifth person is also suspected to have contracted the deadly virus and is currently being treated at a hospital in the eastern city of Tobruk.
Awkali went on to say that three of the victims died in the country's capital city Tripoli, and the fourth in Tobruk.
He refrained from saying which strain of the virus they were infected with.
The health minister added that he is to travel to Tobruk on Sunday and from there to Egypt to meet World Health Organization experts, who are closely monitoring the various strains of flu.
Awkali also said that a WHO delegation is scheduled to arrive in Libya during the next 48 hours.
Tobruk is located across the border from Egypt where, according to local health authorities, at least eight people have already succumbed to the virus this year.
The first recorded case of bird flu in Libya was at a poultry farm in Tobruk in March, without any humans infected.
Mainly in Southeast Asia, the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has killed over 400 people since first appearing in 2003. A separate strain, H7N9 has also killed over 170 people since it first emerged in 2013.
SRK/NN/AS
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