CAIRO, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - An Egyptian girl has died of bird flu, bringing the total death toll from the fatal virus in the African country to 23, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.

Samiyah Salem, 16, was hospitalized on Saturday in the village of Asyut south of Cairo with fever and died on Monday evening, a local Health Ministry spokesman, Abdel-Rahman Shahin, was quoted as saying.

She contracted the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu after exposure to infected domestic poultry in her home.

The previous death from bird flu in the country was reported on April 11.

Bird flu first appeared in Egypt in 2006, since when 51 people have been infected, the most in any country outside Asia.

According to the World Health Organization 246 people have died worldwide from bird flu since the first fatality was registered in 2003.