CAIRO, April 11 (RIA Novosti) - A 30-year-old woman died of bird flu in Egypt on Friday bringing the total death toll from the deadly H5N1 strain in the country to 22, the local health ministry said.

Walaa Ahmed Abdel Geleel first showed signs of the lethal virus on April 2 and was admitted April 9 to a Cairo hospital, where she died, the MENA news agency reported.

A total of 49 Egyptians, mostly women and children, have been infected by bird flu since the first case was reported in the Middle East country in February 2006.

According to the World Health Organization, avian influenza has so far killed 239 people worldwide.

Although no cases of human-to-human transmission of avian influenza have been reported, scientists fear the virus could mutate into a strain that could pass easily from person to person, causing a global pandemic.