Ecuador on Tuesday reported its fourth death from the A/H1N1 influenza, the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) said.

The patient was a 48-year-old female who died on Sunday in a Quito hospital.

The victim was a nurse from the municipal hospital, who was taken to a private hospital before being hospitalized in the IESS hospital where she died.

The IESS hospital confirmed on Tuesday she was infected with the A/H1N1 virus.

IESS Director Patricia Villacis said that after confirming the patient's infection, the authorities have put her relatives and the medical staff who had assisted her under quarantine.

"When she was admitted to the hospital, she had a respiratory attack which complicated her condition and then she died," Villacis told reporters.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2009)