First swine flu death outside the Americas

The first death caused by the A(H1N1) virus outside of the Americas was confirmed Sunday by the British government following the death of a Scottish patient in Scotland.

The Scottish patient was among 10 people hospitalized with the virus, out of 498 confirmed cases across Scotland and 1,261 in total across Britain.

With regret, we can confirm that one of the patients who had been in hospital, and had been confirmed as suffering from the H1N1 virus, has died today, the Scottish government said in a short statement.

The patient had underlying health conditions,” the statement said.

More details about the patient’s age or gender were not confirmed, however media reports said the patient was female.