Fardos Mohammed Haddad, 36, from the Nile Delta province of Menufia died in hospital after being admitted on Saturday with a high fever and difficulty breathing, ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin said in a statement carried by the official MENA news agency.

Her death, the second in as many days and the third in less than a week, is the 18th death in Egypt from the disease since the virus first appeared in the country in February 2006.

“She had been exposed to poultry infected with bird flu,” Shahin said. “All members of her immediate family and people she has been in contact with recently are being tested for the disease.”

Egypt’s location on major bird migration routes and the widespread practice of keeping domestic fowl near living quarters have led to it being the hardest-hit country outside Asia.

The government says it is conducting a vigorous campaign to combat the spread of the virus through vaccinations and raising awareness.

Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali on Sunday warned against “slackness in the preventive measures taken to fight bird flu especially as winter approaches.”

But some experts say the government has not done enough and tends to react rather than act.

Talaat Khatib, a professor of food hygiene at Assiut University said the government awareness campaign was not comprehensive enough.

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