CAIRO, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Egypt confirmed on Saturday that a woman had died of H5N1 bird flu virus, the first human case of the lethal disease in the country, state television reported.

    The woman from Nawa village in the governorate of Qalyubiya, some 40 km north of Cairo, was admitted to a hospital in Cairo nearly two weeks ago with fever symptom.

    Samples of the victim has been sent to Britain for further tests, it added.

    Security forces have sealed off the woman's village, and health officials are taking samples from people who may have come into contact with her or her poultry.

    Egypt has taken tough measures to prevent the spread of bird flu since the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain was found in dead poultry for the first time on Feb. 17.

    About 100 people worldwide have died of the disease since late 2003, most of them were infected after close contact with sick birds.

    Currently, the disease only jumps from birds to humans. But experts fear that the virus might mutate into a form that can easily pass among humans, sparking a global pandemic. Enditem