Egypt confirmed its first human case of bird flu on Saturday, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said.
A report carried by the state MENA news agency said a woman with symptoms of the disease had died in Al-Qaloubiyah province, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Cairo.
The woman was raising poultry at her home and some of her birds also died, Health Minister Hatem El-Gabali said, according to the official news agency, MENA.
Police said that Amal Mohammed Ismail, 35, was admitted to hospital in the governorate's capital Qalyoub, about two weeks ago, and was subsequently transferred to the Cairo Fevers' Hospital where she died Friday night.
Ismail's home has been sealed off by security, police said.
At least 98 deaths since 2003
Egypt had previously reported cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry flocks.
Bird flu has spread across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia and killed at least 98 people worldwide since 2003.
Although hard to catch, scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that could easily pass from one person to another, triggering a pandemic in which millions could die.