H1N1 outbreak feared in Canadian Indians

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, June 2 (UPI) -- Canadian health officials in Manitoba Tuesday were investigating whether an outbreak of respiratory illnesses on an isolated Indian reservation is H1N1 flu.

Provincial officials have flown two additional doctors and two more nurses from Winnipeg to the St. Theresa Point First Nation, 350 miles northeast, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.

Chief David McDougall told the newspaper five children and two pregnant women came down with severe breathing problems in the past week and had to be airlifted to Winnipeg hospitals. One of the women miscarried as a result of her illness, he said.

Public health officials have not determined the virus was H1N1, originally called swine flu, the report said.

McDougall said residents have been told to stay home if they're sick.

In Ontario, provincial health officials in Toronto said a man who died in a hospital Sunday was the country's third confirmed death associated with the H1N1 virus, the Canwest News Service reported.

As of Tuesday, Canada had 1,530 confirmed H1N1 cases, the report said.