First Swine-Flu Death Reported In Belarus
As in neighboring Ukraine, facial masks against the flu have become a common sight in Belarus.
November 04, 2009
BREST, Belarus -- The first death caused by the H1N1 or swine-flu virus has been reported in Belarus, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports.
Officials say forensic tests confirmed the presence of the virus in a 37-year-old woman from the Belarusian city of Drahchyn, who died earlier last week after she returned from Ukraine.
She reportedly went to her doctor on October 26, was immediately hospitalized as a pneumonia patient, and died on October 30.
Aleh Arnautau, the chief sanitary doctor in the western Brest Oblast, told journalists on November 3 that additional tests will be conducted on the woman in Minsk.
Authorities in neighboring Ukraine officially announced a flu epidemic last week.