Death toll of the A/H1N1 flu rose to 9 in Colombia after a patient died in the northwestern city of Medellin, the authority said on Thursday.

The Social Protection Ministry confirmed that a woman in Medellin died of the flu Monday in local hospital.

"She came to hospital on July 13 and was hospitalized immediately," said the ministry, "but unfortunately she deteriorated badly and finally died.”

Since the flu was first detected in Colombia on May 3, there have been 245 confirmed cases and 2,480 suspected cases in the country so far, including the nine deaths.

Six of the nine dead were from the capital Bogota, and two each came from Soacha and Viterbo.

The Colombian government has tightened control at hospitals and health centers to avoid a large-scale spread of the disease in the country.

It was possible that the number of A/H1N1 flu cases would increase rapidly in the country during the coming rain season, said the ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2009)