A 45-year-old man died of avian flu in Menoufiya in the Nile Delta on Saturday, bringing the national death toll from the disease since January last year to 30.

The death was announced by a health ministry official in Menoufiya, Hanaa Sorour, reported Al-Ahram Arabic website.

She said that the man was suffering from pneumonia and was referred to intensive care and placed on a ventilator until he succumbed to the disease.

This is the second fatality caused by bird flu in the governorate over the past year, Sorour said.

The health ministry reiterated its calls for those who handle poultry to seek immediate treatment once flu symptoms start to appear, while advising them to cover their noses and mouths when they deal with any kind of domesticated birds.

In Egypt, most cases of bird flu have been in rural areas, where villagers tend to raise poultry in their homes, increasing exposure to live or dead infected birds.

Bird flu first appeared in Egypt in 2006.