Egypt reports eighth bird flu death this year
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 latest fatality raised the country's total H5N1 death toll since the virus first hit in 2006 to 71
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.
Saudi king grants $35 million for Ebola fight
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has granted $35 million to fight Ebola in an effort to slow a death toll which has reached nearly 6,400, the Islamic Development Bank said Thursday.
The grant will provide schools in West Africa with heat sensors and medical equipment to help prevent and treat the illness, Ahmed Mohamed Ali, president of the Jeddah-based IDB, said in a statement.
Similar equipment will be provided at airports and other terminals, said the IDB, which will implement the project.
It said the funds will also help to establish specialised treatment centres in the most affected countries -- Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
Another treatment centre will be set up in Mali, where six people have died from Ebola.
Ali said the equipment will speed up the opening of schools in affected countries and bolster health and other infrastructure, "thus saving thousands of lives and ensuring the safety of those at risk of contamination".
On Wednesday, WHO reported 17,942 cases of the virus across eight countries as of December 7, with 6,388 deaths.
Saudi Arabia is the major shareholder of the Jeddah-based IDB.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
