MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

First Death in Europe of A H1/N1

A victim of swine flu died yesterday in Scotland, the first confirmed death from in Europe, according to the World Health Organization.

The WHO last week declared the first influenza pandemic since 1968, indicating that the H1N1 virus is spreading in communities outside the Americas. A total of 145 people in the Americas have died from the disease, including 108 in Mexico, the organization said in a statement on its Web site June 12.

The person who died in Scotland was among 10 people hospitalized with the virus, the Scottish Government said in an e-mailed statement from Edinburgh. The victim had “underlying health conditions,” it said.

In a statement today, Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish health secretary, said the government was unable to provide details about the patient “on the express wishes of the family.”

The government yesterday reported 35 new cases of swine flu, bringing the total in the country to 498. On June 13, the number jumped by 55, it said.

The virus is being detected in Scotland at one of the fastest rates in the world. Many of the cases are in Glasgow, the country’s biggest city, and neighboring areas in the west of Scotland, a region with one of Europe’s worst health records.

Scots, who make up less than a 10th of the U.K.’s 60 million population, account for more than a third of national swine flu cases, based on statistics from the Scottish Government and the Department of Health in London.

Scotland also said yesterday there are a further 175 possible cases of H1N1 influenza under investigation.