TEGUCIGALPA – A 23-year-old woman has become the first person to die from the AH1N1 flu virus in Honduras, while the number of cases of the disease has risen to 118, the health secretary said Monday.

The patient died several days ago after being released from a hospital in the western city of Santa Rosa de Copan, Health Secretary Carlos Aguilar told a press conference.

The woman, who was six weeks pregnant, had been hospitalized for several weeks and initial tests for the flu came up negative, Aguilar said.

The patient, however, underwent a new set of tests because of the symptoms she was exhibiting, and the results confirmed that she was the first fatality from the AH1N1 virus, the health secretary said.

The number of AH1N1 flu cases rose from 108 last week to 118 currently, Aguilar said.

Most of the patients are out of danger and no one else has been hospitalized, according to Aguilar, who said the government had sufficient medicines to deal with the health emergency.

The first case of the new strain of swine flu in Honduras was confirmed by the health secretary on May 21. EFE