Nov 3, 2009, 14:06 GMT
Minsk - The first Belarusian death from swine flu was registered by health officials on Tuesday.
The victim, a 37-year-old female resident of the town of Drogichin, died on Friday, but results of blood tests confirming the presence of the H1N1 virus only became available Tuesday, said Oleg Arnautov, chief doctor of the western Brest province.
The woman reportedly had visited Ukraine's western Kovel region, currently near the centre of Ukraine's flu outbreak, in early October.
She became ill in the latter half of October and experienced severe flu symptoms for four days before consulting doctors, Arnautov said.
The victim had been suffering from other illnesses before having been infected by the flu, which may have contributed to the respiratory problems causing her death, he said.
In recent weeks, the Belarusian capital Minsk has seen an estimated 10 deaths of persons suffering from pneumonia preceded by flu-like symptoms. Public health workers were working to identify the virus causing the illnesses.
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