Cairo - An Egyptian girl died of bird flu on Monday, bringing the number of deaths from the disease to 23, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

The 16-year-old from a village in the upper Egyptian governorate of Assiut, caught the disease after coming in contact with infected poultry at home, Health Ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The girl was hospitalized last week after suffering from high fever and respiratory problems, said Shahin.

Egypt has reported 51 cases of H5N1 in humans since the disease emerged in the country in February 2006. The last human fatality was on April 15. (dpa)