The Pennsylvania death, as well as deaths in New York and Chicago reported late Wednesday, were not included in the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pennsylvania currently "has 269 confirmed cases and 101 probable cases of illness due to this virus," the state's Health Department said in a statement.

It was the first death in the state, officials said.

As of midday Wednesday, the CDC reported 17 deaths in the United States attributed to the A(H1N1) virus and 11,054 confirmed cases.

The CDC, which says there are confirmed cases in all 50 US states, currently updates its figures on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Swine flu has now spread to at least 66 countries, with more than 19,000 people known to have been infected since the disease was first uncovered in April, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization out Wednesday.

Mexican swine flu death toll rises to 106
Mexico's swine flu death toll rose by three to 106, the health ministry said Thursday, adding that the number of confirmed infections rose to 5,611.

Of the dead to date, 52.8 percent were women between the ages of 20 and 54, officials said.

All of Mexico's 32 states have registered swine flu cases, with most in the sprawling capital Mexico City.

More than 70 percent of the deceased were aged between 20 and 54 years, the health ministry said in an earlier statement.

Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said Monday that the country at the epicenter of the global epidemic might lift its swine flu alert in mid-June, insisting the virus was on the wane.

A(H1N1) flu has now spread to 66 countries with 19,273 people known to have been infected since the disease was first uncovered in April, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization out Wednesday.

The WHO is now only updating its tally three times a week, rather than daily.

Chile reports second swine flu death
A 56-year-old man who died last week has been diagnosed as Chile's second swine flu death, health authorities said Sunday.

The man, who died overnight Tuesday to Wednesday in a hospital in the southern city of Osorno, suffered from obesity and heart disease.

A test confirming the presence of the A(H1N1) virus "was positive," regional health secretary Bernardo Martorell told AFP. "The family and the public were informed today."

The second swine flu death in Chile followed that of a 37-year-old worker who died in Puerto Montt on Monday of a major respiratory collapse within 24 hours of being admitted to a local hospital.

As of Saturday, 890 cases of swine flu have been detected in Chile since the virus first emerged in Mexico in late April.

The epidemic has spread to nearly 22,000 people around the world, claiming the lives of 125 people, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) tally.

Deaths have been reported in five other countries besides Chile -- Mexico, the United States, Canada, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Nicaragua sees six new swine flu cases
Nicaragua reported six new cases of swine flu Sunday, raising to 26 the total number of people with the virus across the country.

Cases "are appearing because we are actively looking for them," health minister Guillermo Gonzalez said.

The first case of the A(H1N1) was detected in Nicaragua just seven days ago.

The latest rash of cases prompted brigades of health workers to descend on some 20,000 homes in a Managua neighborhood where the outbreak was spotted.

Gonzalez said the majority of cases have been detected in people who visited countries where the disease has taken a firmer hold.

The virus has largely hit school-aged children, prompting the temporary closure of at least two schools.

Two US soldiers in Germany contract swine flu
Two American soldiers at a military hospital in Germany visited this week by President Barack Obama have contracted swine flu and four more probably have the virus, officials said Saturday.

The cases of A(H1N1) influenza were confirmed on Thursday at a hospital in Landstuhl in western Germany. Obama visited the following day to meet wounded soldiers evacuated there from Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The cases involve military patients who were sharing a common area at Landstuhl," said a statement from the US military.

"With exception of a patient who arrived from Italy on May 26, none had travelled outside Germany in the past two weeks," it added.

The cases at Landstuhl, the largest US military hospital in Europe, were the first confirmed among US soldiers stationed in European bases.

Eighteen US soldiers who tested positive for swine flu were removed from a military base in Kuwait last month.

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