US, Costa Rica A(H1N1) flu deaths reported

SEATTLE -- A Washington state man with underlying heart conditions became the third person infected with A(H1N1) flu to die in the US, health officials said Saturday, while Costa Rica reported the first A(H1N1) flu death outside North America.

Japanese authorities, meanwhile, scrambled to limit contact with their country's first cases, and Australia and Norway joined the list of nations with confirmed cases of A(H1N1) flu, formerly known as the swine flu.

A Snohomish County man in his 30s died on Thursday from what appeared to be complications from A(H1N1) flu, the state Department of Health said in a statement. The man had underlying heart conditions and viral pneumonia at the time of his death, but A(H1N1) flu was considered a factor in his death, the statement said.

The man, who was not identified, reportedly began showing symptoms on April 30.

His death and the death of a 53-year-old man in Costa Rica on Saturday brings the global death toll to 53, including 48 in Mexico, three in the United States and one in Canada.

Like other deaths outside Mexico, the Costa Rican man suffered from complicating illnesses, including diabetes and chronic lung disease, the Health Ministry said.

Previously, US authorities reported deaths of a toddler with a heart defect and a woman with rheumatoid arthritis, and Canadian officials said the woman who died there also had other health problems but gave no details.

In Mexico, where 48 people with the flu have died, most of the victims have been adults aged 20 to 49, and many had no reported complicating factors. People with chronic illnesses usually are at greatest risk for severe problems, along with the elderly and young children.

The Costa Rican fatality was one of eight A (H1N1) flu cases in the country confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Minister Maria Luisa Avila told The Associated Press.

Avila said officials had been unable to determine how the Costa Rican patients became infected, but she said he had not recently traveled abroad. Many flu sufferers in other nations have been linked to recent trips to the United States or Mexico.