11 H1N1 deaths reported in Canada

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, June 16 (UPI) -- Manitoba and Quebec each reported two more deaths attributed to the H1N1 flu Tuesday, bringing Canada's total to 11, health officials said.

The two Manitoba fatalities were a man and a woman, both in their 40s, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The woman, who was from the Nor-Man health region, had significant underlying medical conditions but the man, who was from the Winnipeg area, did not.

"We fully expected that we would have deaths, as we do every year from influenza," said Manitoba health officer Joel Kettner. "It's particularly concerning, of course, when they occur in people in their 40s, because this is a premature death by anyone's test."

The Quebec victims were a man and a woman between 30 and 50 who had underlying medical conditions.

The World Health Organization said on its Web site Tuesday that 163 people had died of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, since the outbreak started in April. But it listed only four deaths in Canada. Most of the deaths have been in Mexico (108), followed by the United States (45), WHO said.

The health organization said there had been 35,928 cases of the flu reported in 76 countries.