First American woman dies with swine flu

BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The first American woman has died of swine flu and she is the second to die from the virus after a Mexico City boy.

The 33-year-old woman lived in Cameron County, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The woman died early Tuesday. She was said to have chronic underlying health conditions and had been hospitalized since April 19, Texas health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said.

Leonel Lopez, Cameron County epidemiologist, said the flu exacerbated the woman's condition. "The swine flu is very benign by itself," Lopez said. But "by the time she came to see us it was already too late."

The woman was a schoolteacher who had recently given birth to a healthy baby.

Earlier, the Mexico City boy, who had been visiting relatives in Brownsville, near Harlingen. died last week at a Houston children's hospital.