A 25-year-old Egyptian woman is infected by deadly bird flu strain

Bird flu has infected an Egyptian woman, bringing to 38 the number of those afflicted with the deadly strain of the disease in Egypt, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

The woman, identified as Naema Abdo Gamil, 25, was admitted in a government hospital Saturday and has since been transferred to a hospital in Cairo, the Health Ministry said in a statement carried by the official news agency, MENA.

She was in stable condition Sunday, said health ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman.

Gamil contracted the lethal H5N1 virus after coming into contact with dead chicken in the Mediterranean province of Damietta, about 175 kilometers (108 miles) northeast of Cairo.

Fifteen of the 38 people infected with H5N1 in Egypt have died.

Most of the fatalities have been women or girls whose families raise poultry in backyards and who had daily contact with chickens or turkeys.

Egypt is one of the countries most affected by the H5N1 strain outside Asia, where the bird flu outbreak began. The country lies on a main route for migratory birds, which are believed to have brought the disease.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has hit 45 countries has and killed at least 191 people worldwide since 2003. It has resulted in the culling of millions of birds.