Six Egyptians being tested for bird flu - MENA

CAIRO, Feb 10 (Reuters) Six Egyptians were being tested for bird flu in a town south of Cairo today after displaying flu-like symptoms, state news agency MENA reported.

They are from several villages near the town of Fayoum and range in age from three to 40, MENA said, adding that one of them, a 24-year-old female, was in critical condition.

MENA quoted a Health Ministry source as saying all six were known to have been in contact with poultry, and that biological samples had been sent for testing in the ministry's laboratories.

Samples were also taken from the poultry, as a number of them had died, he added.

On Monday, a 17-year-old Egyptian girl died of H5N1, making her the 12th Egyptian to die of the virus.

In January, the World Health Organisation said that two people who had died of bird flu in Egypt were found to have a strain of the virus which has shown moderate resistance to the frontline antiviral Tamiflu.

REUTERS DKS BST0113