Egypt reports 24th bird flu death

CAIRO, — The Egyptian Health Ministry says a 6-year-old boy has died of bird flu, the country's 24th casualty to the lethal virus.

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In a statement Tuesday, Health Ministry Spokesman Abdel-Rahman Shahine says the boy, Ali Mohammad Ali was admitted to hospital last month with symptoms of the deadly H5N1 virus.

The boy, who lived in the gritty Cairo suburb of Shubra el-Kheima, was give the drug Tamiflu but remained in critical condition until his death Tuesday.

Though no details were given about how the boy contracted the virus, women and children in Egypt are especially susceptible because they generally care for domestic fowl.

Egypt is one of the countries most affected by the H5N1 strain outside Asia and there have been 65 cases since 2006.