CAIRO, Feb 15 (Aswat Masriya) – A woman passed away on Sunday after struggling with H5N1 bird flu in Fayoum governorate, about 100 kilometers southwest of Cairo, a health official from the governorate said.

Medhat Shukri, a top Health Ministry official in Fayoum said the deceased was a 22-year-old woman who was hospitalsed last week after doctors suspected she had contracted the virus.     

Her death raises the number of Egyptians who died as a result of the virus in 2015 to a dozen.

Shukri added that there is a child in Fayoum suspected of having the virus. She is currently hospitalised and being tested for the virus.   

On Friday, Egypt's Health Ministry said a 35 year-old man died in Cairo after being infected with H5N1 bird flu.

The ministry has called on those who suffer from the symptoms of the flu to head to nearest hospital. It added that receiving the bird flu treatment within 24 hours after the symptoms appear increases the chances of being cured.

The World Health Organisation has warned that whenever bird flu viruses are circulating in poultry, there is a risk of sporadic infections or small clusters of human cases, especially for people exposed to infected birds or contaminated environments.