Tunisia reports first swine flu death

Nov 16, 2009, 9:04 GMT

Tunis - A man who worked in the northern Tunisian port city of La Goulette became the first person to die from complications related to the swineflu A(h1N1) virus, local media reported Monday.

According to A-Sabua magazine, the 33-year-old man became ill in the port city, and then returned to his home town of Mahadia in the center of the North African country, where he died at the local hospital.

Tunisia has reported over 200 incidents of swine flu, with cases appearing in most parts of the country.

The government decided earlier this autumn to ban all its citizens from traveling to the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, known as hajj and which is one of the primary tenants of Islam, fearing an uncontrolled spread of the virus.

The French embassy last week closed its school in Tunis, after an outbreak of the virus, in what was said to be a temporary measure.

Health professionals and some security forces have started to receive vaccinations, with government plans to also give jabs to people with chronic diseases.

The weekly newspaper also noted that seasonal influenza kills about 4,000 Tunisian each the year.