Estonia has first swine flu death

TALLINN — A 13-year old Estonian boy died of swine flu early Monday morning, the third death in the Baltic states from the A/H1N1 virus.

From Harjumaa, the boy was struck with the virus Friday and was hospitalized the next day. He died in the hospital, the Ministry of Social Affairs said.

The news comes as the swine flu virus is spreading across the Baltic states. Estonia reported 269 cases as of Friday, while the Latvian Center for Infectious Diseases said Monday that 271 new case of swine flu were reported in last week, up 70 percent from the previous week. The total number of swine flu cases was 657.

In Lithuania the number is not clear as the government has ceased testing most individual cases. As of Monday over one-third of all the schools in the country were closed and 23 municipalities were declared epidemic areas. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control announced Monday that Lithuania, along with eight other countries, have a “high intensity” of the A/H1N1 virus.

— Baltic Reports reporters James Dahl and Kevin Dugan contributed to this article.

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