Malaysia reported its third case of death of the A/H1N1 flu on Tuesday.

This was also reportedly the first case of death resulted by a local transmission of the virus.

The third victim, a 42-year-old man, died on Monday at a private hospital here, according to the Malaysian Health Ministry.

The two earlier deaths, both imported cases of the virus involved a Malaysian man, 46, who died on July 26 and an Indonesian student, 30, who died on July 21.

Malaysian Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the third victim had died of severe pneumonia with multi-organ failure after receiving treatment for 10 days in a private hospital since July 18.

Since July 6, the man had sought outpatient treatments from several private clinics and hospitals before being hospitalized atthe private hospital, Liow told a press conference at his ministry.

In the hospital, the man was diagnosed to be suffering from both diabetes and pneumonia, and was later transferred to the intensive care unit after having breathing difficulties, added Liow.

Liow said a throat swab was taken on late July 22 when the man's condition deteriorated and the sample test result showed A/H1N1 positive on July 23.

He showed his concern about the fatalities in Malaysia as all of them died when they were admitted to hospitals.

Liow also directed private clinics and hospitals to be on high alert as well as make Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug, available for the flu treatment.

As of July 28, there were 95 new local A/H1N1 flu cases involving Malaysians with one death, bringing the numbers of confirmed cases to 1,219 and death cases to three.

To date, the number of local infections in Malaysia has surpassed the number of imported cases. Of the total, 53 percent or 645 are local infections while 47 percent or 574 are imported cases.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2009)