Egyptian authorities have confirmed the death of a 30-year-old Egyptian from bird flu.
A health ministry source said the woman from Qaloubiyah province, about 40 kms north of Cairo, where the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain has been detected in poultry, was taken ill on Wednesday.
"They (doctors) took samples for analysis at the ministry of health laboratories ... They confirmed she was infected with bird flu. She died on Friday morning," a health ministry statement said, adding the woman had been given Tamiflu, a drug used to treat suspected cases of bird flu.
Meanwhile, Israel confirmed today that four poultry workers suspected of having bird flu had tested negative for the virus, after the country detected its first cases of H5N1 in birds on Friday.
Bird flu has spread across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia and killed at least 98 people worldwide since 2003.
Although hard to catch, people can contract bird flu after coming into contact with infected birds. Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that could pass easily between humans, triggering a pandemic in which millions could die.
Dr Hassan al-Bushra, WHO's regional adviser for communicable diseases surveillance, said the H5N1 bird flu virus had been found in a blood sample taken from the woman, and that other samples were being tested for further confirmation.
Egypt reported its first cases of bird flu in poultry flocks last month. Media and state reports say H5N1 has now been detected in at least 17 of Egypt's 26 governorates and the city of Luxor.
Egyptian farmers say the poultry market - worth about 17 billion Egyptian pounds and supporting up to 3 million people - has been devastated.