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Israel Confirms Deadly H5N1 Strain of Bird Flu

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Israel says tests showed the bird flu virus that infected poultry in the southern part of the country is of the lethal H5N1 strain.

Israel's Agriculture Ministry confirmed the finding on Sunday.

Israel has been culling thousands of birds to contain the virus, after officials said last week that more than 10,000 turkeys died from bird flu on two farms in the south.

Officials say more culling will be carried out within a three-kilometer radius of the infected birds, although they say the situation is under control.

Meanwhile, Egypt reported a second suspected human case of bird flu.

Egypt's health ministry said Sunday a young man hospitalized since Thursday is suffering symptoms of the disease. It said he kept a farm, north of Cairo, where a number of chickens died last week.

The report followed the death Friday in Egypt of a woman believed to have contracted the H5N1 strain of the virus.

Bird flu has spread across parts of Europe, Africa and Asia, killing about 100 people since 2003. Health officials have warned it could mutate into a virus that can be easily transmitted between humans and create a global pandemic.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.

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