CAIRO: The Egyptian government has denied reports of a bird flu outbreak in the southwestern Al-Wadi Al-Gedid Governorate. The General Authority for Veterinary Services rejected claims on some media websites that the isolated province has been been hit by the outbreak. Egypt’s Ministry of Agriculture urged media outlets and social media users to seek accuracy in news publishing and to contact the authorities before publishing. The bird flu (commonly known as H5N1) strain spread in the early 2000s in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, resulting in the slaughter of tens of millions of chickens and ducks.