Woman with swine flu dies in Philippines

By TERESA CEROJANO,Associated Press Writer - Tuesday, June 23

MANILA, Philippines – A 49-year-old woman with swine flu died in the Philippines in the country's first death related to the virus, an official said Monday as infections continued to climb across the region.
The pandemic flu strain is hurting tourism in some areas, with New Zealand reporting a sharp drop in visitors.
The Philippines death, officially from heart failure, marks the second in the Asia-Pacific region linked to swine flu, after a man in Australia died Friday.
Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the woman's chronic heart disease was aggravated by pneumonia. She started to have flu-like symptoms such as dry cough, fever, chills and difficulty breathing two days before her death on Friday.
A throat swab revealed she was also infected with the swine flu virus.
Duque said health authorities cannot conclude that the death is due to H1N1.

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