Iraq Confirms First Swine Flu Death

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Health Ministry confirmed on Sunday the country’s first H1N1 influenza death.

“A young woman who was already ill and living in poor circumstances died of swine flu,” Deputy Health Minister Amar al-Khuzaie said.

The H1N1 flu outbreak, declared a pandemic in June, has spread around the world and could eventually affect 2 billion people, according to World Health Organisation estimates.

The virus has killed more than 800 people worldwide since emerging in April.