A 40-year-old woman with A/H1N1 flu has died in Canada, the first such death in the country, health authorities confirmed on Friday.

Andre Corriveau, chief medical officer of health in Alberta province, said that the woman had serious underlying medical conditions when she died on April 28.

But at that time doctors did not know she had H1N1 flu.

Health officials ordered further testing of the woman's remains after they learned on Tuesday she had been in contact with a family member who had a mild form of the H1N1 virus.

Late on Thursday, the Provincial Laboratory of Alberta confirmed the deceased had contracted the same virus.

Corriveau said it is not clear what role the H1N1 flu played in her death.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2009)