Cairo - An Egyptian woman has contracted bird flu in the second case in the country in as many days, the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Saturday.
The 25-year-old from the Qalubia province was in hospital in critical condition, the daily quoted a health ministry statement as saying.
It was the 65th recorded case since the first outbreak of the disease in Egypt in 2006.
On Wednesday the health ministry said a 33-year-old woman from Kafr el-Sheikh province in the north had the disease and was critically ill and on an artificial respirator.
Egypt has seen an increase in bird flu cases over the past two months. The World Health Organisation (WHO) called in March for an investigation into why many of the victims have been young children.
Twenty-three people have died of bird flu in Egypt, and most victims have been young girls or women, who are generally in charge of looking after poultry in rural areas.
Egypt hosted an international conference on bird flu in October, when Washington pledged an additional 320 million dollars to the fight against the disease amid fears that it may yet escalate into a global pandemic.
The H5N1 strain of the virus that is most dangerous to humans first emerged in Asia in 2003 and has since caused nearly 250 deaths, according to WHO figures.
Scientists fear that a mutation of the bird flu virus resulting in a strain easily transmitted among humans could create a pandemic, potentially affecting up to one fifth of the world's population. - Sapa-AFP