Egypt reports eighth bird flu death this year

Cairo: Health authorities in Egypt on Thursday reported the country`s eighth death this year from bird flu.

"A woman of 33 originally from Sohag province (in the south) has died of the H5N1 virus," health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghafar told AFP.

He said another person is still being treated, and added that seven patients diagnosed this year with bird flu were cured.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 400 people worldwide since first appearing in 2003, mainly in Southeast Asia.

It is one of several deadly or potentially deadly strains of bird flu that are closely monitored by the World Health Organisation.

The strain is different from the H5N8 version, whose spread on European poultry farms has prompted WHO calls for vigilance.

A third strain of bird flu -- H7N9 -- has killed more than 170 people since emerging in 2013.