Egyptian girl infected with bird flu - WHO

CAIRO, June 8 (Reuters) A 10-year-old girl from southern Egypt has been infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, and is in ''very critical'' condition, a World Health Organisation official said today.

''There is a new human case just reported by the Ministry of Health. She is a 10-year-old female. She has a history of contact with backyard birds,'' said John Jabbour, an official with the World Health Organisation in Cairo.

The fresh infection brought the number of human cases of avian influenza in Egypt to 35, of which 14 have died. Egypt's state news agency MENA reported that the girl, from the southern town of Qena, was in hospital on a respirator.

The disease first hit Egypt in 2006 and did extensive damage to the poultry industry and the economy as a whole. Egypt has the highest number of confirmed human bird flu cases outside Asia.

Most of those who fell ill were reported to have had contact with sick or dead household birds, primarily in northern Egypt. But the government still finds it hard to enforce restrictions on the movement and sale of live poultry.

REUTERS PBB PM0101